With cap space at premium, Rockets may be exploring options to trade away veterans

If Houston wants even more salary cap space in 2023, it could potentially lead to the departure of a #Rockets veteran such as Kevin Porter Jr., Jae’Sean Tate, or KJ Martin.

With an NBA-leading figure of more than $60 million in space beneath the league’s salary cap, the Houston Rockets are expected to aggressively pursue potential free agents and trade acquisitions to reshape their roster in the 2023 offseason.

While they already have lots of space, it’s not implausible they may desire even more, should the right opportunities arise. That could especially be the case at positions where the Rockets are deep with prospects, since a player’s trade value is likely to decline if he isn’t receiving sufficient playing time to put up strong numbers.

That may be why, according to multiple media reports, the Rockets are exploring options, internally, involving veteran salaries from their own roster. Here’s what ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said Wednesday, as relayed by David Hardisty of ClutchFans:

The Rockets are looking to move some other players on their roster to free up some cap space, as they go into the free agent market.

According to Kelly Iko of The Athletic, Houston isn’t expected to trade key young players such as Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun, Jabari Smith Jr. or Tari Eason. Beyond those four, the salaries of most of Houston’s remaining roster are so low there is limited financial incentive to trade them, since teams are required to have rookie minimum salary cap holds on their books, no matter what.

The exceptions are 23-year-old guard Kevin Porter Jr. ($15.9 million in 2023-24) and 27-year-old forward Jae’Sean Tate ($6.5 million), who have salaries well above the minimum but apparently aren’t viewed as indispensable pieces of Houston’s young core.

For Tate, there’s clearly some position overlap within that core. Houston already has a crowded frontcourt with Smith, Eason and KJ Martin, who started at small forward to end last season.

Then again, Martin might be a trade candidate, himself. The position overlap argument can be made for him, as well, and there are complex financial considerations with Martin, too — even if the fourth-year forward is on a near-minimum deal at the moment.

Iko writes:

There has been interest in 22-year-old forward Kenyon Martin Jr., sources say, with his combination of age and upside still intriguing to rival NBA teams… and deemed attainable internally for the right price.

The issue with Martin isn’t a desperate need to clear space, since Houston can let him play out his original NBA contract at a near-minimum rate. The questions involve what happens after that.

If the team made Martin a restricted free agent in 2023, it would have leverage to match outside offers and perhaps retain him at a team-friendly deal — since he would be incentivized to cooperate with Houston due to receiving a large pay raise earlier than required.

However, giving Martin an extension in 2023 would come out of Houston’s salary cap space (or at least require a larger cap hold). Thus, in a scenario like this where the Rockets are attempting to maximize space, it may make sense to defer Martin’s resolution until 2024.

But if Martin’s situation is pushed until 2024, there’s conceivably a risk of him leaving for no compensation as an unrestricted free agent, which may make the 2023 offseason an opportunity to extract some value — as opposed to risking a departure for no compensation.

Free agency agreements can be reached starting Friday, June 30. However, trade talks pick up on draft week (June 22), which makes this an ideal time for Stone and the Rockets to gauge their options.

[lawrence-related id=114517,114522]