As the 2021-22 NBA season has progressed, the Houston Rockets have increasingly boosted the playing time of younger players as part of their rebuilding push. For the time being, that has pushed veterans like Daniel Theis, David Nwaba, and DJ Augustin out of the rotation.
That does not mean, however, that those players would not have value elsewhere. Kelly Iko of The Athletic reports:
It’s more likely Houston does a smaller-scale deal around the margins prior to the trade deadline. Teams have expressed interest in acquiring veterans Daniel Theis and David Nwaba ahead of the Feb. 10 deadline, sources tell The Athletic. With the Rockets having their full roster healthy, both Theis and Nwaba have been on the outside looking in on head coach Stephen Silas’ rotation. Both players have value to older, more established teams looking for deep playoff runs, something Houston can’t offer at this juncture. There has also been some interest in backup point guard DJ Augustin, sources tell The Athletic, albeit to a lesser degree.
All three players are on reasonable contracts, which can be matched by many teams in hypothetical trades. Theis has a guaranteed deal through the 2023-24 season at an average of about $8.7 million per season, while Nwaba is owed just under $5 million for this season and next.
Augustin, who is more of a defensive liability than the other two but a superior 3-point shooter, is owed $7 million this season and has an extremely miniscule guarantee of approximately $300,000 for the 2022-23 season — effectively making him an expiring contract.
Theis and Nwaba are 29 years old, while Augustin is 34. Between the limited upside associated with those ages and the fact that all three players are currently out of Houston’s rotation, the potential trade return for any or all of them is not likely to be significant.
Nonetheless, since Houston has already traded away its 2022 and 2023 second-round draft picks, the opportunity to potentially recoup one of those assets could tempt general manager Rafael Stone. If not traded, Augustin would seem to be a potential candidate to have his contract bought out, since he’s basically in the final year of his deal.
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Rockets trade deadline notebook 1.0: What I’m hearing on John Wall, Eric Gordon, Christian Wood and more
via @TheAthletic https://t.co/AXto7JH1p6
— Kelly Iko (@KellyIkoNBA) January 24, 2022
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