NBA Trade Rumors: Rockets, Kings In Talks For Kosta Koufos After Clint Capela Injury?

Unleashing a barrage of three-pointers and appointing All-Star James Harden point guard has worked wonders for the Houston Rockets (24-9) this season, catapulting them to the fourth-best record in the NBA.

But Houston, which is currently third in Western Conference and has gone 13-2 in its last 15 games, still requires some size and rebounding after losing center and top board-crasher Clint Capela reportedly suffered a broken fibula and could miss several weeks.

That’s led Houston to explore the trade market for any available bigs and Sacramento Kings center Kosta Koufos has become a target, ESPN’s Marc Stein reported Friday morning. The report doesn’t say who or what Houston would give up.

Capela, now in his third season after Houston took him No. 25 overall in the 2014 draft, has played an integral role in the Rockets resurgence and center Dwight Howard’s exit this summer, averaging 11.8 points and a team-best 8.0 rebounds and 1.6 blocks.

Capela’s helped Houston become the seventh-best rebounding team in the league with 45.1 boards per game and the Rockets are also fourth in the NBA in rebound differential at plus-4.4.

The 27-year-old veteran Koufos may be able to help Houston keep that pace and contend in the loaded West. Appearing in 32 games and starting 28, Koufos is averaging 5.9 points and 5.8 rebounds – the second-best mark of his career – and its likely he’d welcome a trip out of fledgling Sacramento.

However, Koufos is unlikely to be a solid rim protector like Capela, as he’s managed more than a block a contest only once in his career – the 2011-12 season with Denver.

Koufos, who signed a four-year, $33 million deal with Sacramento in 2015, also has a manageable contract over the next two seasons. He’s scheduled to make $8.3 million next season and has a player option for $8.7 million for the 2018-19 season, a very reasonable sum given the exorbitant raises players have received under the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement with the players’ union.

The Rockets are presently over the salary cap by more than $641,000, according to Spotrac, but could make a deal work with their more than $18 million in luxury tax space.