Houston sheds Dorian Finney-Smith’s contract to regain cap flexibility. This strategic salary dump forces Rafael Stone to address roster gaps through free agency or internal role shifts.
The Houston Rockets continue to make minor headlines with another deal to help the team improve around the edges. At least that’s the hope.
It was clear that Rafael Stone made a mistake by signing Dorian Finney-Smith last postseason, despite it looking like a solid addition at the time. Unfortunately for everyone involved, the veteran wing just never found his footing on the team after recovering from ankle surgery.
Thankfully, his four year contract was actually a cleverly negotiated two year deal, as covered on Roundtable. This made DFS much easier to trade as an expiring contract for this upcoming season, and that’s exactly what happened.
In a straight lottery dump, the Rockets attached three second round picks to his salary in order to get the Charlotte Hornets to take on that extra salary. Not the biggest loss in the world to admit a mistake was made and right their wrongs. Or is it?
The pick that’s nearest in the future is a 2027 second rounder from the Memphis Grizzlies, while the Rockets sent their own second round picks in 2028 and 2033. Aside from a swap in 2031, those were their only second round picks remaining. It'll be harder to make trades without those picks to attach in the future.
This obviously opens up a hole in the rotation though, assuming everyone’s healthy. Will we see another signing or trade with over $13 million leaving the cap sheet? Bring back Josh Okogie?
Maybe sign a center, as suggested here in Roundtable? Or perhaps with all of the guard depth Amen Thompson with be more of a small forward on this team? Less ball-handling duties and more freedom to roam and cut off-ball?
Potentially, but I do want to stay realistic and be aware of another possibility. The Rockets could not do anything very exciting and just be looking to save some money. That’d be an unfortunate reality, but completely believable.
It’s seemingly been almost every team’s top priority with the new “Apron” rules set in place. It’s believed to be the reason many teams, including the Boston Celtics didn’t want anything to do with Jaylen Brown. Simply the contract and how it impacts team building.
That’s probably one of the reasons Houston has passed up on virtually every other star available this offseason too. Thankfully they’ll have to do something though.
The roster was already incomplete before trading away Dorian Finney-Smith and not getting any players in return, so now there’s multiple holes to fill. With JD Davison’s contract non-guaranteed still, I’m interested to see how Houston fills out the roster.
