9:15 p.m.: The Rockets intend to give up newly acquired wing Ty Jerome, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Feigen adds that Derrick Favors and Theo Maledon are seen as the most likely of these new additions to the team to stick to its standard 15-man roster at the start of the regular season.
8:13 p.m.: The Thunder will send the center Derrick’s favorsshooting guard Ty Jeromeforward Maurice Harklessleader Theo Maledon and the Hawks’ 2025 second-round pick at the Rockets in exchange for an athletic swingman David Nwaba, wing Sterling Brownleader Trey Burk and power forward Marquis Chrissby ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Woj adds that Oklahoma City will get two trade exceptions in the deal. In pure salary terms, the trade will help the Thunder get $10 million under the league’s luxury tax cap punishment. Wojnarowski notes that Favors in particular is tradeable among returning players arriving in Houston, as a solid replacement with an expiring salary of $10.2 million.
The 6’9″ Favors, 31, was a longtime key backup big man with several strong playoff-bound clubs. Last year with the Thunder, he appeared in just 39 games, averaging 5.3 PPG on 51.6 percent shooting, plus 4.7 RPG, on 16.7 MPG. Jerome and Maledon are both young players on rookie contracts with potential for potential remaining and could benefit from their time in Houston.
On the Rockets side of the deal, Houston acquires a second-round draft pick and only has to pick up an additional $1 million in salary, as Woj details.
Kelly Iko of The Athletic reports (by Twitter) that the second round of 2025 is protected by the top ten picks of the second round of this draft. If the selection is not passed in 2025, Houston will receive the second second-round draft pick in 2026 among the Thunder, Mavericks and 76ers.
Since the No. 2 draft pick Chet Holmgren was ruled out for the year with a Lisfranc injury to his right foot, and with the best player in this new trade fired from the team, it looks like the Thunder are prioritizing a year of youthful development, as they are looking to the 2023 Draft Lottery to build their impressive roster of youngsters.
Oklahoma City added four rookies in the 2022 draft, including two more lottery picks beyond Holmgren. The Thunder have been in full rebuild mode since 2019/20, winning a total of 46 games over the past two seasons.
Houston is also in the asset gathering and lottery targeting draft phase of its journey since 2020. The team went 37-127 from 2020-22. This year, the club drafted an intriguing rookie power forward Jabari Smith with Auburn’s third pick. The Rockets also made two other first-round selections.
It seems unlikely that all of the players on this deal will be with their new clubs when the regular season opens. ESPN’s Bobby Marks (by Twitter) notes that both teams will still have 18 guaranteed contracts on their books as a result of this deal. According to league rules, that count will have to reach 15 by October 17.
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