Rockets owner Tillman Fertitta called the luxury tax a “horrible hindrance.”
So, Houston will do something about it.
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN:
The Houston Rockets are acquiring guard Iman Shumpert in a three-way deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Sacramento Kings, league sources told ESPN.
The Rockets will send guard Brandon Knight, forward Marquese Chriss and a 2019 lottery protected first-round pick to the Cavaliers, league sources said.
The Cavaliers will send guard Alec Burks to the Kings, and guards Nik Stauskas and Wade Baldwin to the Rockets, league sources said.
Sacramento also got a second-round pick from Cleveland, according to James Ham of NBC Sports California.
This trade puts the Rockets in line to save $7,780,376 – $6,417,710 in luxury tax and $1,362,666 salary – this season. The bigger savings come next season, when Knight – who hasn’t been good in years – is guaranteed $15,643,750. Everyone Houston got is on an expiring contract.
The Rockets are now just $4,290,472 over the tax line and could still try to dodge the tax altogether. But they will likely be active on the buyout market, which would only add to their payroll. Maybe Houston will try to flip Stauskas and/or Baldwin before tomorrow’s trade deadline to make an eventual post-buyout signing less costly. Escaping the tax entirely seems less likely.
At least this trade also helps the Rockets on the court, unlike their money-saving decisions last offseason. Knight and Chriss were non-factors. Shumpert isn’t great, but he’s a reasonable two-way wing with deep-playoff experience. Teams can’t get enough of those.
Still, Shumpert is a minor upgrade relative to what Houston could’ve gotten for a first-rounder if that pick weren’t doing the heavy lifting of unloading bad salary.
That pick is why Cleveland took Knight and Chriss. The Cavs aren’t going anywhere quickly, anyway. Better to stock up on long-term assets like draft picks in exchange for taking negative-value contracts now. Maybe even Chriss is worth a flier. He gets his desired trade. The first-rounder is the real prize, though.
Swapping Shumpert for Burks, who’s also on an expiring contract, seems like a parallel move for the Kings. Burks is an inch taller, and Sacramento needs a bigger wing. But Shumpert had done a nice job of competing at small forward. I’m not convinced Burks will match that. At least the second-round pick offers buffer. But in a season where the Kings could end a 12-year playoff drought, they should focus primarily on the players involved. Maybe they just like Burks.