In contrast to 2023, when the Rockets used their significant space beneath the NBA’s salary cap to sign veterans like Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks, Houston will operate above the cap in 2024.
But that doesn’t mean general manager Rafael Stone is in a bad spot, when it comes to potential upgrades to the roster. Trades are always possible, and the Rockets also have a number of salary cap exceptions to use for outright signings. Because Houston remains well below the NBA’s luxury tax line, there are no penalties for using them.
However, in a rule change under the NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), exceptions can now be used to acquire players via a trade or waiver claim, as well. Outright free agency signings remain the most common use, but they are no longer the only use.
In the case of the Rockets, who already have a full playing rotation under contract along with the No. 3 overall draft pick in the 2024 first round, there isn’t an immediate need for another mid-tier role player.
With that in mind, it appears Stone and the Rockets will likely save the biggest exception at their disposal — the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, which offers a starting salary at near $13 million annually for up to four years — for use in potential trades down the line. That could make the bi-annual exception, which offers a $4.7-million annual salary for up to two years, Houston’s initial spending tool.
Jonathan Feigen, beat writer for the Houston Chronicle, explains:
With their rotation returning intact, the Rockets are likely to hold onto their mid-level exception in case it could be used in trades, rather than in free agency. In a rule change, teams may use the non-taxpayer, room mid-level, or bi-annual exceptions in trades or to acquire a player on waivers.
Given the lack of playing time available in their rotation for a free agent addition they could add with a $12.9 million salary, they are much more likely to keep that exception available for a trade.
A larger trade for a headliner that more dramatically alters the Rockets rotation could potentially create openings that would make the mid-level exception more beneficial then than it would be next month when the roster and rotation are so full.
Among Houston’s rotation players from last season, only reserve guard Aaron Holiday will be a free agent, and Tari Eason and Steven Adams are each expected back from injury.
Feigen writes that Jock Landale, Jeff Green, and Jae’Sean Tate are all likely to have the 2024-25 team options on their contracts picked up, which would fill out the projected roster for the time being.
The majority of team-option decisions are due by Saturday, June 29.
Rockets plan to keep Jeff Green, Jock Landale and Jae'Sean Tate ahead of NBA draft, free agency https://t.co/oKcEi11BBY
— Chronicle Sports (@ChronSports) June 24, 2024
