Rockets Planning Move For NBA Champion, Lakers Remain Preferred Option: Report

The Houston Rockets are still looking to strengthen despite failing with their efforts to sign Jimmy Butler via a sign-and-trade deal. They are looking to make a significant addition and also increase their depth in the center either via a trade or free agency but they can only offer the veteran $2.6 million contract or the $2.2 million tax-payer mid-level deal.

Rockets general manager Daryl Morey spoke about the franchise’s desire to retain their starting five from this season but that would not have been possible if Butler arrived. They would have had to trade Clint Capela and Eric Gordon, who according to the Houston Chronicle, were informed beforehand.

However, Butler chose to join Miami Heat in a sign-and-trade deal that includes four teams, which will now allow Morey to retain the starting five going into next season. But Jonathan Feigan of the Chronicle reports that the team is looking to acquire a center depth during the offseason.

Andre Iguodala is said to be among the players the Rockets are looking at after the forward was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies when Golden State Warriors acquired D’Angelo Russell from Brooklyn Nets. Morey has a future first-round pick to offer and could look for a trade with the Memphis franchise.

They could also land Iguodala as a free agent after Stephen A. Smith recently revealed that the three-time NBA champion is planning to complete a buyout from his contract and become an unrestricted free agent. However, the Rockets will not be the frontrunners, with ESPN’s NBA insider claiming that Iguodala wants to engineer a move to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Another player on Morey’s radar is said to be former Warrior JaVale McGee, who is now a free agent after spending the 2018-19 season with the Lakers. Feigan was informed that the meeting between the Rockets and the veteran center went extremely well in Los Angeles and that the player would be interested in playing a backup role to Clint Capela even if the Swiss center was not traded this summer.