Roster crunches in Dallas and Los Angeles could gift Houston prime rotation pieces as Western Conference rivals weigh tough cuts, potential trades, and strategic waivers this preseason.
The Houston Rockets can still add a player or two to fill out their roster before the season starts, even after signing Isaiah Crawford and Jae’Sean Tate. Thankfully for them, some teams have extra players they’re looking to get rid of, and depending on the player, they could sign for cheap.
The Mavericks’ Klay Thompson and his $17.46 million expiring contract definitely seem better suited as a trade chip, at least for Dallas’s sake. They’ll need to make one roster cut after matching the New York Knicks offer for Moussa Cisse, though.
Caleb Martin seems to be the more likely option at first glance, but he strangely has a player option for the 2027-2028 season. That means it’s virtually guaranteed money and the Mavericks would have to stretch and waive him.
They could end up paying him $19.371 million over the next five years, just to leave the team if they can’t find a trade. Then I’d consider signing him to a contract in Houston for sure, but probably not worth a trade.
Marcus Sasser was just acquired earlier this summer and Dallas is running out of guard play, so I think he’s sticking around. It’ll be interesting to see what choices they make, but both wings would be solid options if they’re minimum contract free agents.
The Los Angeles Lakers also need to make some subtractions from their roster after signing Ziaire Williams and Matisse Thybulle in the past week.
Bronny James seems like the most realistic option, despite the team expressing their desire to continue the relationship without LeBron around. He can easily get waived, though, making only $2.296 million. He’s just not a smart option for Houston, in my opinion.
Jarred Vanderbilt is reportedly the latest candidate to be stretched and waived. He's making $12.428 million, then has a $13.286 million player option that puts the Lakers in a tough place. I don’t see many suitors, and waiving him could hamstring the team so he might be sticking around.
Dalton Knecht, on the other hand, has a much smaller $4.201 million contract with a $6.452 million team option in the following year. They’ve already tried to trade him, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s waived.
I would be a bit surprised if Jake LaRavia is waived considering he got much more consistent playing time. He’s guaranteed $6 million this season too, making him a solid asset all around. After playing 25 minutes per game in all 82 last year, he seems like he’ll stick around.
Regardless, it’s impossible to know the future, so any number of players could become available. Keep your eyes peeled to see if Houston fills the remaining roster with guaranteed contracts.
