OKC Thunder news: David Nwaba, Trey Burke, Marquese Chriss waived

The Thunder have set their roster.

The Oklahoma City Thunder announced on Monday that they had waived guard Trey Burke and forwards Marquese Chriss and David Nwaba. All three players were acquired in the eight-player trade with the Houston Rockets in late September.

None of the players dealt are with either team.

The Thunder needed to make room to fit guard Isaiah Joe on their roster, and the release of the three players gives them plenty of that. Nwaba was the only player from the trade that played for the Thunder in the preseason.

With the three moves, the Thunder 17-man roster is set.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey, Lu Dort, Ousmane Dieng, Jalen Williams, Aleksej Pokusevski, Kenrich Williams, Tre Mann, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Darius Bazley, Aaron Wiggins, Jaylin Williams, Mike Muscala, Isaiah Joe, Chet Holmgren and two-way players Lindy Waters III and Eugene Omoruyi.

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Bleacher Reports lists David Nwaba as player the Thunder should trade this season

The argument is that there could be a market for David Nwaba this season as a playoff rental.

Bleacher Report writer Zach Buckley published an article on Friday about one player every NBA team should trade this season.

NBA rosters have high turnover rates as players typically find new homes every couple of years.

For the Oklahoma City Thunder, their candidate was recently acquired veteran David Nwaba.

“David Nwaba might be the leading member of this season’s ‘Who He Play For?’ segment, as the defensive specialist moved from the Houston Rockets to the Oklahoma City Thunder in one of the Association’s biggest head-scratchers of an eight-player swap.

His stopping skills and high motor could potentially attract a defensively deficient trade-deadline shopper, provided they’re willing to overlook his many offensive limitations.

Nwaba can finish at (and above) the rim, but asking him for anything more on offense requires a healthy dose of optimism. Still, defense matters—it decides championship races, if you buy into the old adage—and teams that don’t have enough of it could consider a cheap flier on him.”

Nwaba might be the only player from the massive eight-player trade with the Houston Rockets that could stick with the Thunder beyond the preseason due to his $5 million salary this season. The Thunder also aren’t allowed to include Nwaba in trades with other players until Nov. 30, so it looks like he is stuck in Oklahoma City until then.

Nwaba has played in every preseason game so far for the Thunder, and head coach Mark Daigneault said he’ll give the 29-year-old a shot to earn a roster spot.

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Report: David Nwaba traveling with Thunder to Denver for preseason game

David Nwaba is the most likely of the remaining three players acquired from the Houston Rockets to stay with the team.

It looks like the Oklahoma City Thunder might keep one of the four players they acquired in the eight-player Houston Rockets trade.

The Oklahoman’s Joe Mussatto reported veteran guard David Nwaba traveled with the team to Denver for Monday’s preseason game against the Denver Nuggets.

Of the four acquired from the Rockets, Nwaba was the most likely to stay on the Thunder due to his contract. Nwaba is owed $5 million this season and the Thunder are not allowed to trade him until Nov. 30.

Nwaba is entering his seventh season and averaged 5.1 points and 3.3 rebounds on 48.3% shooting.

The Thunder have already moved on from veteran forward Sterling Brown; they waived him on Sunday. The other two players acquired from the Rockets are Marquese Chriss and Trey Burke.

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Rockets trade four players to OKC for package led by Derrick Favors, future second-round draft pick

The Rockets are trading four veteran players to Oklahoma City in a deal bringing Derrick Favors, a future second-round draft pick, and more to Houston. Here’s our analysis of the move.

In a trade between rebuilding rivals in the Western Conference, Oklahoma City is trading Derrick Favors, Ty Jerome, Moe Harkless, Theo Maledon, and a 2025 second-round pick via Atlanta to the Houston Rockets for David Nwaba, Sterling Brown, Trey Burke and Marquese Chriss, as first reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

All of the players involved have expiring contracts (see Rockets books, Thunder books), so it shouldn’t materially impact either team’s long-term salary cap planning. Oklahoma City is also sending $6.3 million in cash considerations to compensate for the substantial gap in salaries, per Jackson Gatlin of Locked on Rockets.

The Rockets had acquired Brown, Burke, and Chriss for salary matching purposes as part of the trade sending Christian Wood to Dallas in June, but none were in Houston’s future plans.

Keeping those players into the 2022-23 regular season, which begins in under three weeks, would have been difficult because the NBA’s offseason roster limit of 20 players shrinks to 15 standard contracts and two two-way deals. Thus, Rockets general manager Rafael Stone was searching to make something of those assets before the roster deadline would force many (if not all) of those players to be released.

Of the four players acquired from the Thunder, only Favors — a veteran who could figure into Houston’s backup center mix — would seem to have a plausible path to rotation minutes this season. While Houston is likely to evaluate all or most in the upcoming preseason, the roster deadline is likely to force a handful of releases.

Beyond any value from Favors, now 31 years old, as a player, the primary trade benefits would appear to be his salary and the future second-round draft pick via Atlanta. At $10.2 million, Favors could potentially help the Rockets match salary in trades closer to the 2022-23 trade deadline next February, yet he only occupies one roster spot. To reach that figure prior to this trade, the Rockets would have had to commit multiple roster spots due to the smaller annual salaries.

Moreover, because the Rockets are taking in more money than they are sending out and reducing Oklahoma City’s potential luxury tax figure, the Thunder are compensating Houston with a future second-round draft pick and cash. In effect, the Rockets are buying a future pick by absorbing a contract from a team looking to shed payroll, similar to the 2024 second-round pick they got from Brooklyn last preseason in a deal involving Sekou Doumbouya, who was subsequently waived by the Rockets.

According to Kelly Iko of The Athletic, Houston’s newly acquired 2025 second-round pick via Atlanta is protected for picks 31-40. If that doesn’t convey, the Rockets would then receive the second-best 2026 second rounder between Dallas, Oklahoma City, and Philly (all are currently owned by the Thunder).

Scroll on for recent statistics of players involved in the trade, along with further analysis and reaction to the move.

Report: Thunder send Derrick Favors to Rockets in an 8-player deal

The Oklahoma City Thunder will send Derrick Favors to the Houston Rockets in a large deal that includes eight players.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are done wheeling and dealing as they continue with training camp on their way to preparing for the 2022-23 season.

The Thunder, who are rebuilding, made a large deal Thursday night in terms of players but a minor one in terms of impact. They are sending Derrick Favors, Theo Maledon, Moe Harkless, Ty Jerome and a 2025 second-round pick to the Houston Rockets for Trey Burke, David Nwaba, Marquese Chriss and Sterling Brown.

All in all, it’s more of a deal for salary cap relief. The Thunder gain two trade exceptions, and they drop roughly $10 million below the luxury tax. OKC also gains some intriguing players to continue their rebuild.

Favors was a respected veteran who was a nice presence for the youngsters. He averaged 5.3 points and 4.7 rebounds in 39 games in the 2021-22 season as he now heads to Houston where he could be moved again.

The Thunder had recently acquired Harkless in a trade earlier in the week while Jerome and Maledon will be looking for fresh starts with the Rockets.

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Bleacher Report proposes John Wall, Christian Wood, Garrison Mathews trades for Rockets

John Wall to the Lakers? How about Christian Wood to Golden State? Here’s our analysis of Bleacher Report’s latest NBA trade proposals involving the Rockets and whether they make sense.

With the 2022 playoffs field narrowed from 16 teams to four, the NBA’s highly anticipated 2022 offseason is right around the corner. As the June 23 draft approaches, trade talks will pick up around the league.

As usual, general manager Rafael Stone and the Rockets should be among the more active teams. Though Houston is clearly in a rebuilding phase, there are a number of highly priced veterans (John Wall, Christian Wood, and Eric Gordon) who could be of interest to contending teams.

Best of all, each member of that trio is entering the final season of their existing contracts in 2022-23, which could make them more desirable on the trade market due to the lack of a long-term financial commitment.

With trade rumors swirling, Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report recently proposed one offseason trade idea for each of the league’s 30 teams. Here’s what he came up with involving the Rockets, along with our verdicts on whether or not each is advisable for Stone to pursue. All of these proposals work within the NBA’s salary matching rules for trades.

2021-22 Rockets roster review, offseason outlook: David Nwaba

David Nwaba saw reduced minutes in his second Houston season, but he was beloved as a veteran mentor for younger players. In 2022-23, he could also have value as an expiring contract.

(Editor’s note: We are conducting individual reviews of all players from the Houston Rockets who finished the 2021-22 season with the team. To access other reviews as part of this ongoing series, click here.)

Rockets Player: David Nwaba, 6-foot-5 wing, 29 years old

2021-22 statistics in Houston: 5.1 points (48.3% FG, 30.6% on 3-pointers), 3.3 rebounds in 13.2 minutes

Professional Experience: 6 NBA seasons

Contract Status: Under contract for 2022-23 at $5.0 million; team option at $5.4 million for 2023-24

After averaging nearly 23 minutes per game in 2020-21 and becoming a rotation piece for Stephen Silas when healthy, Houston re-signed Nwaba in 2021 free agency to a two-year deal with a team option for a third year. However, Nwaba found his average minutes slashed by nearly 10 per game, and he fell out of the rotation for large stretches of the year.

Nwaba, who is respected for his defense and leadership, is beloved in Houston’s locker room and referred to as “Uncle Dave” by some of his younger teammates with the rebuilding Rockets.

Player salaries for Houston Rockets entering 2022 NBA offseason

With the February 2022 trade deadline having passed, here’s who the Houston Rockets will have on their salary books entering the 2022 offseason.

With the 2021-22 trade deadline having passed, here’s an updated look at who the Houston Rockets and general manager Rafael Stone will have on their salary books entering the NBA’s 2022 offseason.

It was a quieter deadline than many expected for the Rockets, with the only transaction being the move of veteran center Daniel Theis to Boston for guard Dennis Schroder and big man Bruno Fernando.

Unlike Theis, who was under contract for three seasons, Schroder and Fernando each have contracts that expire after the 2021-22 season. Thus, the move gives Stone more flexibility in future offseasons.

On the other hand, the downside could be that since Schroder was signed last offseason to a one-year contract, the Rockets won’t have any Bird rights to help retain him. Should the 28-year-old play well enough to warrant consideration for a longer-term future in Houston, the Rockets would have to hope that their mid-level exception — or 120% of his current salary of $5.9 million — would be enough to do the trick.

The Rockets did free up a roster spot as part of their deadline moves, since guardsto DJ Augustin and Armoni Brooks were waived to make room for Schroder, Fernando, and Enes Freedom (included for salary reasons and immediately waived). The vacant spot was then used to sign rookie guard Daishen Nix to a standard four-year contract, which opened up a two-way contract slot that had previously belonged to Nix. As of Monday, Feb. 21, the Rockets had yet to re-issue that deal.

In the aftermath of those moves, here is an updated look at who will be on Houston’s roster entering the 2022 offseason. This list is sorted by annual salary, going from the most in 2021-22 to the least.

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Final 2022 NBA All-Star votes for the Houston Rockets

Four NBA players voted reserve guard DJ Augustin as an All-Star, while John Wall — who has yet to play this season — also had a player vote. Here’s a rundown of how all Rockets fared.

Entering Friday, the Rockets (14-34) possessed the worst record in the Western Conference. Thus, in a rebuilding season, it should come as no surprise that Houston’s young squad will not have a player representative at the 2022 NBA All-Star Game.

Nonetheless, in a hybrid format weighting votes from fans, a media panel, and players, the Rockets did still have many players receiving votes. Fans accounted for 50 percent of the vote to determine the starters, which were announced Thursday, while players and media accounted for 25 percent each. Reserves will be named next week.

Though no Houston player received votes from the media panel, it’s become clear over the years of this voting process that many fans and players will go by personal favorites, rather than true basketball merit. Even John Wall, who has not played in a single game this season as part of a mutual decision, received votes from fans and even a player!

Here’s a rundown of how each Houston player fared in regards to votes from fans and players (none received any from media).

2022 NBA trade deadline updates: Latest Houston Rockets rumors

Who’s staying with the Rockets, and who’s going? As the NBA’s Feb. 10 trade deadline nears, here’s the latest updates on John Wall, Eric Gordon, Christian Wood, and beyond.

With a record at the bottom of the Western Conference, the young and rebuilding Houston Rockets clearly aren’t traditional buyers as the NBA’s Feb. 10 trade deadline for the 2021-22 season approaches.

Yet, they aren’t obvious sellers, either.

Nearly all of the marquee veterans they currently have under contract are on the books for 2022-23, as well. Thus, even though Houston clearly isn’t making a playoff push this season, it’s not as if they have to make a move or risk losing those players for no compensation.

General manager Rafael Stone could explore the offseason trade market with those players, or he could keep many of those veterans around in an effort to help bolster the development of Houston’s young core (i.e. Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun, Kevin Porter Jr., and beyond) — and perhaps bring some extra wins in the 2022-23 campaign.

Moreover, an aggressive move to add a player (such as a franchise centerpiece) can’t be ruled out, either. Houston isn’t likely to add a big-name veteran of significant age, given its lowly record, but expect Stone to explore any opportunities to add younger difference-makers who could potentially grow with the existing core in the years ahead.

This continually updated post will offer a one-stop shop for the latest trade rumors and tidbits surrounding many players on the current roster, as well as any reported interest by Stone in players elsewhere.

(Last updated: Wednesday, Jan. 26)