The Rockets and Thunder reportedly executed an eight-player trade on Thursday that will carry noteworthy cap implications for both teams entering the 2022–23 season.
Oklahoma City is reportedly trading center Derrick Favors, guard Ty Jerome, forward Moe Harkless, guard Theo Maledon and a 2025 second-round pick (via the Hawks) to Houston in exchange for forward Marquese Chriss and guards David Nwaba, Sterling Brown and Trey Burke, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Wojnarowski added that the Thunder will gain two trade exceptions and drop about $10 million under the luxury tax as a result of the deal while the Rockets will acquire an additional trade asset for collecting another $1 million in salary.
Thursday’s reported deal shuffles the deck for both clubs during a week where training camps kicked off league-wide. The Thunder and Rockets were among the 26 NBA teams who opened camp on Tuesday; the Bucks, Hawks, Warriors and Wizards began camp on Sept. 24 because they are hosting preseason games overseas.
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For Houston, the trade adds a few interesting veterans in Favors–the 2010 third pick–and Harkless to a rebuilding team that just added Jabari Smith, the third pick in the ’22 draft, to the mix. While it’s possible both players could eventually end up on other teams, the Rockets could see value in keeping Jerome, a ’19 first-round pick, and Maledon, a ’20 second-round pick, long-term.
As for OKC, Chriss, Nwaba, Brown and Burke bring five-plus years of NBA experience to a similar rebuilding situation for the Thunder. All four players could potentially provide serviceable minutes in the rotation or end up moving on to do the same for another team.
