That rockets held fast to their asking price for a first-round selection in exchange for Christian Holz and landed the 26th pick after agreeing to a trade with the outsideraccording to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report (Twitter link). Sources tell Fischer that Houston’s asking price will remain the same Eric Gordonthe team is still looking for another first round player.
Gordon was productive for the rebuild club in 2021-22, averaging 13.4 points, 2 rebounds and 2.7 assists on .475/.412/.778 shots in 57 games including 46 starts (29.3 minutes). Despite his points per game being tied for a career low, the veteran shooting guard posted a career-best 61.4%.
The 33-year-old essentially has an expiring $19.57m contract in 22/23 as his $20.92m 23/24 is not guaranteed.
Here’s more about the Rockets and Mavs:
- As Spotrac’s Keith Smith notes (via twitter), if the Rockets keep all their first-round picks (3rd, 17th, and 26th) they have 22/23 19 players under contract, so Houston will have to make extra moves to get to 15 before next season. Smith also notes this Dennis Schroeder and Bruno Fernando are probably out of the picture due to the roster crunch. While this is an assumption on Smith’s part and not a report, his logic certainly makes sense as neither player is included in the team’s long-term plans. Schroeder is an unrestricted free agent this summer, while Fernando could be restricted if Houston makes him a qualifying $2.2m offer, which seems highly unlikely at this point.
- In his video breakdown of the trade, ESPN’s Bobby Marks says the Rockets will generate a $4 million trade exception as part of the deal. The Athletic’s Zach Harper rates the trade, giving the Mavs a B-Plus and the Rockets a B.
- Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle says (via twitter) that Wood’s concerns about the character are overdone, calling him a “standup guy in an incredibly tough two-season stretch.” Feigen believes Wood will “thrive” in Dallas.
- The timing of the trade was interesting, according to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (Twitter link), who notices Paolo Banchero worked for the Rockets earlier in the day and then the team decided to trade a starting big man into Wood. Banchero is widely predicted to be third overall after Houston.
- The four-for-one swap creates an unexpected amount of roster space for the Mavs, and league sources say Marc Stein (via twitter) the Theo Pinson It is “strongly expected” that a standard contract will be re-signed. Pinson was credited as the unofficial ringleader of the Mavs’ bench mob, who netted the team $175,000 during the playoffs for its “bench decorum” violations. Stein reported a few weeks ago that Dallas wanted to keep Pinson, who is no longer eligible for a two-way contract after four years of NBA experience.
- One of Dallas’ top priorities when entering the free hand is acquiring a wing that can get minutes of rotation in the playoffs. tweets ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. The Mavs will be a luxury tax team 22/23, so their primary tool for signing a free agent will be the mid-level taxpayer exemption, which is expected to be worth $6,392,000.