The Houston Rockets have their sights set on free agent Jimmy Butler, but they'll need to pull off some trades if they want to land the All Star shooting guard. Houston doesn't have nearly enough cap space to offer Butler the max contract he could receive from the Philadelphia 76ers or any other team, soe the Rockets are reportedly targeting a sign-and-trade with the Sixers.
As a result, Houston is looking to trade Clint Capela, Eric Gordon and PJ Tucker with the hopes of acquiring enough future draft picks to flip to Philadelphia as part of a Butler sign-and-trade. With that in mind, The New York Times' Marc Stein reports that the Rockets have already found a trade partner for Capela. However, they do not intend to make the deal unless they are sure they can land Butler.
Capela, 25, will be entering his sixth season in the NBA, coming off a year where he averaged career highs with 16.6 points and 12.7 rebounds per game.
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ESPN's Tim MacMahon reports that a Rockets player recently told him, "I hope they don’t panic. I hope they don’t make drastic moves. We are right there. We’ve just got to figure out some things, fine tune some things, but we are right there. We don’t need to change much. It’s not the time to f---ing panic.”
Houston finished with a 53-29 record this past season, good enough for third in the Western Conference. As their roster stands now, the team is considered to be a favorite in the West heading into the 2019-20 season.
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