The Houston Rockets have the most available salary cap space of any team heading into the summer, and it seems they will be casting a very wide net in potential targets on the NBA free agency market.
The Houston Rockets enter an important moment this offseason. After three seasons of trying to rebuild the franchise the old-fashioned way with top prospects from the NBA Draft and player development, the organization is shifting its strategy for next season. Instead of a youth movement, the team has designs on a major influx of veteran free agents.
Related: Top 2023 NBA free agents – Best 100 available with positional breakdowns
For months, the Houston Rockets have been linked to a free agency reunion with former star James Harden. However, in recent days it seems more and more likely the 14-time All-Star is headed back to the Philadelphia 76ers this summer. It is a perfect example that no matter how much money a team has, it is best to have many possible targets than focusing on a few specific players.
Khris Middleton and Austin Reaves on Houston Rockets’ wish list
It seems the Rockets have quickly learned their lesson. On Monday, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle revealed quite a few interesting details regarding Houston’s strategy and targets in NBA free agency. Firstly, while the organization still hopes to sign the future Hall-of-Famer, they are also interested in a quantity over quality approach and could aim for three to four second and third-tier players on the open market instead of one or two big names talents.
Furthermore, Feigen revealed the large list of players the Houston Rockets will try and talk to, and it included two top stars from the Milwaukee Bucks and a pair of rising talents from the Los Angeles Lakers.
“According to a person with knowledge of their thinking, they have interest in the Bucks’ Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez, the Nuggets’ Bruce Brown, the Jazz’s Jordan Clarkson, the Lakers’ Rui Hachimura and Austin Reeves, the Nets’ Cam Johnson, the Warriors’ Donte DiVincenzo, the Grizzlies’ Dillon Brooks, the Raptors’ Jakob Poeltl and the Mavericks’ Dwight Powell.”
– Jonathan Feigen
Landing Middleton and Reaves could be difficult, however, the Houston Rockets signing Clarkson, DiVencenzo, Brooks and Poeltl are real possibilities after July 1.