Houston could swap Fred VanVleet’s salary for depth. Explore potential multi-player packages featuring veterans from Cleveland, Indiana, or Orlando to bolster the Rockets' championship aspirations.
After previously looking through multiple one-for-one swaps using Fred VanVleet’s contract here on Roundtable, it’s clear that might not be the most realistic option. The Houston Rockets should look at taking on multiple players in order to make a move.
There’s always teams looking to get off of players, and the Cleveland Cavaliers currently fit that mold. In particular, they’re looking to trade Max Strus ($16.66 million) and Dennis Schroeder ($14.8 million). Solid role players who could really help Houston.
Unfortunately I’m not sure why they would want Fred VanVleet if they’re competing for a championship. His health is too big of a question mark. Not to mention Clint Capela would also have to be thrown into the deal.
The Indiana Pacers are in a similar position where they’re likely trying to compete with Tyrese Haliburton returning to action. Aaron Nesmith and TJ McConnell are each making $11 million next season, making them extremely valuable contracts. Shoot your shot if you’re Rafael Stone, but I’d be surprised if they’d accept that deal at this point.
With dozens of free agents signing in the past week, many of those players won’t be eligible to get traded until December 15th, or even January 15th. That doesn’t mean we can’t keep an eye on them in the meantime, though. Some contracts are signed strictly as trade pieces.
That could very well be the case for Mo Wagner’s contract with the Brooklyn Nets. Both him and Keon Ellis signed the same $19 million deal for the next two years, so we’d need to add Terance Mann’s $15.5 million to make things work.
I could see this working because the Nets have Day’Ron Sharpe and Danny Wolf at center already, as well as a plethora of young guards and wings. The next team is also has a slight overabundance of centers.
After the Orlando Magic saw Mo Wagner leave, they decided to bring Nikola Vucevic back to the team. That makes Wendell Carter Jr. and his $18.1 million contract more expendable, but Jonathan Isaac’s newly signed minimum contract would be the reason this deal has to wait.
It’s just hard to imagine any playoff team wanting to take on VanVleet’s contract without proof of health. Orlando already deals with Suggs’ injuries and I don’t think they want to add to that.
Sticking to the Southeast Division, Buddy Hield accepted his player option worth $9.66 million. This was automatically viewed as a trade chip for the Atlanta Hawks.
The same could be said about former Rockets big man, Jock Landale. He signed a deal worth $14 million for this season, combining nicely to match VanVleet’s $25 million.
Again, they wouldn’t be viable options until more than a month of basketball has been played, but they’re all smaller options to look out for. Ideally we’d get some clarity on FVV’s health before then, though.
