Rockets Front Office MASTERMINDS Fred VanVleet Deal | Will Houston SURPRISE With An NBA Draft TRADE?

Rockets Front Office MASTERMINDS Fred VanVleet Deal | Will Houston SURPRISE With An NBA Draft TRADE?

on today’s show the Houston Rockets sign for Ed Vanle to a brand new contract and how it impacts their team building moving forward Plus will we see any movement from the Houston Rockets in the second night of the NBA draft it’s all coming up right here at Locked on Rockets This is mission control Houston Ignition sequence start 6 5 4 3 2 1 What’s up and welcome to another edition of Locked On Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball As always I’m your host Jackson Gatlin native Houstononian and credentialed media member I’m also the host of Locked on NBA Thursdays Be sure to follow along wherever you listen to your podcasts or on YouTube Just search Locked on Rockets where the best way you can help us grow our show is to listen every single day on a podcast platform of your choosing and then like comment subscribe on YouTube And as always thanks so much for making Locked on Rockets part of your day every single day whether it’s on your way to work on your lunch break in the gym Thank you so much for being an everydayer Exciting news to talk about on today’s show Fred Van Vleet brand new contract with the Houston Rockets two years $50 million as reported by Sham Shirania uh with a player option in year two We’ll break down what that contract means and how it impacts the Rockets financials going forward in just a moment We’ll also take a look at the relatively quiet not even relatively quiet absolutely like just no noise during the first round of the NBA draft from the Houston Rockets There were some reports they might be trying to trade back into the draft Will we see any movement out of the Rockets in the second round of the draft talk about that as well as a little bit of just general draft reaction in particular with the Phoenix Suns actually making some decent moves which is not good for the long-term future of those Suns picks that the Rockets still own So we’ll talk about all of that on today’s show Let’s start with the big stuff though Fred Van Vleet brand new contract Houston Rockets decline his team option and renegotiate a 2-year $50 million deal with a player option in year two Um look awesome deal for the Houston Rockets We’ve been kicking around what a Fred Van Vleet contract would look like for what feels like a couple months now on the show We’ve done multiple different episodes talking about you know speculating Would it be you know three years 60 million would it be three years 100 million would it be three years 75 million we’ve gone back and forth and back and forth with all these numbers 2 years 50 million is fantastic value for Fred Vanble Vleet And credit to Rafel Stone and Eli Whitis and the rest of the Rockets front office And also credit to Fred because at the end of the day Fred wants to be here in Houston The Rockets want Fred Van Vleet as their continued point guard at least for now until Reed Shepard is ready to take the reign somewhere down the line He is very much the heart and soul of this Rockets team He’s the emotional leader of this Rockets team And with them trying to compete at the highest level right now it’s important to be able to keep all these pieces in place Fred’s been a gigantic part of the Rockets turnaround He’s an extension of Emodoka on the floor This was a no-brainer This was always going to be the outcome unless there was some like wild out there crazy scenario where a trade somehow presented itself where they absolutely needed to use Fred Vanble Vleet’s $45 million salary This was going to be the outcome of Fred Vanble Vleet’s contract situation A brand new deal with that’s you know incredibly team friendly And people might be wondering why did Fred Vanble Vleet give back so much money right he’s taking a $20 million pay cut on this new deal I think the better way to look at it is the fact that the Rockets vastly overpaid for Fred’s services when he originally came here They had to pay the quote unquote loser tax to steal Fred Van Vleet away from the Toronto Raptors So they overpaid for two years That third year was never going to get picked up right the the third year being tacked on the $44.9 million that was basically a way for Fred and his agent to like parade around and be like “We got a three-year max right?” It is what it is But if you take the two years that he did earn on the overpaid contract and then these next two years well where he will be making 25 million a year and if you average it ac if you average it out across all four years shout out to my guy Yosi Goslin who who broke it down the math If you average it out across all four years he’ll be making $33.4 million annually across the lifespan of these two contracts across all four years And 33.4 4 million is about the value that you’d expect for Fred Vanble Maybe a little more than what you’d be comfortable paying him on a like flatout regular contract Again I think 30 million is about that sweet spot for a guy of Fred’s stature And not stature NBA stature not like height stature Um but a guy you know that that brings to the table what Fred does as a leader as a playmaker as a tertiary as a secondary or tertiary scorer on some nights um the mentorship that he provides to the young guys all that stuff right fred’s about a 25 to30 million player give or take Um plus the defense right you can’t ignore that side of the basketball either So for the Rockets and Fred Vanble Vleet to be able to come to this type of an agreement where his salary drops tremendously going into the this next season it adds a lot of flexibility for the Houston Rockets moving forward It gives them um a lot of flexibility beneath both uh of the aprons the first and the second apron It’ll mean that they should on paper be able to have access to their full non-taxpayer MLE worth $14.1 million Now they might not use all of that because as we talked about in our kind of cap breakdown episode just before this one it might behoove the Rockets to avoid the luxury tax this upcoming season if at all possible before entering the luxury tax in subsequent seasons due to the penalties of the repeater tax of being in the luxury tax multiple consecutive years in a row and how that kind of factors and how that ultimately um can really restrict you a little bit further down the line with other different payroll considerations and complications and all that stuff So um and and the other significant benefit here uh with it only being a two-year deal instead of committing to a three or a four-year deal with Fred Van Vleet even just flat out assuming like it’s a two-year deal and like he’ll be here for two years That’s not even a fully guaranteed option because that second year is a player option on his contract and there is going to be a lot of money flying around next off seasonason It is it is being called a robust market Um there are a lot of you know cap analysts who are looking at next summer as a summer where players are going to get flatout paid And so for Fred you know it might be an opportunity for him to look at declining that player option leveraging you know another team you know against the Rockets and basically saying “Look I could go to XYZ location I can go to I can go to Washington and go lead their young guys there whatever They’re willing to pay me this bag I need you to match it or I’m going to leave.” That might be the case So it might only mean one more year of Fred Van Vleet but the length of that contract be it just one year if he decides to bounce next summer for more money or two years if he decides to pick up the player option because nobody out there wants to actually pay him $25 million the shorter shelf life of that contract is ultimately better for the Rockets from a flexibility standpoint especially when you consider that they have Reed Shepard waiting in the wings right the Rockets are so internally high on Reed Shepard They truly believe that he is their point guard of the future and that the back court of Reed Shepard and Amin Thompson is going to pair beautifully at some point down the line It’s just a matter of of when not if Uh at least if you talk to anybody within the organization And so given Fred only having a two-year deal that means it gives you a little bit more optionality as far as potentially moving on to Reed Shepard sooner rather than later rather than having him kind of gated and being stuck behind Fred Van Vleet in the depth chart um for the foreseeable future So really exciting stuff here Absolutely fantastic deal for the Rockets Great deal for Fred Van Vleet shows that both sides are focused on the ultimate goal which is winning at the highest level Fred sacrificing a little bit of money to give the Rockets that salary cap flexibility which we’ll talk more a little bit how a little bit more about here in just a second Um and man when you look at what the Rockets have done this off seasonason so far between the Steven Adams you know new contract the team friendly extension Emo Doka’s extension trading for Kevin Durant now Fred Van Vleet’s new contract and we haven’t even hit free agency yet the Rockets brain trust of Rafel Stone general manager Eli Whitas assistant GM and Patrick Fertitta uh as well as everybody else involved in the front office They’ve absolutely been flat out killing it this off seasonason This is what a good front office and a good you know executive staff looks like Um at the end of the day and just a ton of credit to all three of those guys in particular that’s kind of the Rockets brain trust They’re the guys behind so many of the Rockets big important decisions Um and really ever since Tilman Fertito went hands off like after the Russell Westbrook trade debacle like things have been running pretty smoothly for the Houston Rockets So credit where credit is due Um and I will say I don’t necessarily think they’re done yet I think that they know that there’s still a couple couple stop gaps a couple you know a couple holes maybe in the roster that need to be filled maybe still adding some shooting looking to add somebody with that MLE this off seasonason andor possibly facilitating a trade maybe expanding on the initial framework of the Kevin Durant deal to loop in a third team and you could factor in you know trading away Jock Landale and and Aaron Holidayiday’s contracts to be able to bring in another impact player potentially Um the Rockets have a lot of options there So I’m sure that they’re currently exploring all of them Uh and only time will tell whether or not the Rockets are able to pull something off either with the KD trade or just flat out signing somebody in free agency but we’ll have you covered for all that stuff a little bit further down the line Coming up want to talk about the NBA draft Can we expect any movement from the Houston Rockets in the second round of the NBA draft on night two also are the Suns actually going to be good on defense and how that might hurt the Rockets we’re going to get there in just one moment First today’s episode is brought to you by Wayfair Look there’s nothing like stepping into your outdoor space and feeling like you’ve escaped to a personal oasis If you’re wanting to update your patio this season Wayfair has made it so easy to turn it into a space that feels like yours Comfortable stylish and ready for summer Wayfair has everything that you need to level up your outdoor space Conversation sets outdoor bars fire pits hot tubs gazeos even the perfect string lights to set the vibe It’s like giving your backyard that resort feel without the resort price tag Look my girlfriend and I we just did some work on the back patio and we got four four or five lounge chairs from Wayfair And it’s been awesome because having them set up out there being able to entertain guests whether it’s just drinks on the back patio or like having a little board game night if the weather’s nice it’s awesome It’s like our own little personal slice of heaven And you can experience that feeling too Don’t wait Make your outdoor space your dream oasis today with Wayfair and enjoy it all summer long Head to wayfair.com right now to shop a huge outdoor selection That’s wayfair.com w a yf a r f a i r.com Wayfair every style every home And continuing on here at Locked on Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball All right really quickly before I get into some of the draft stuff that I did want to talk about um I want to try to revisit a little bit of the numbers from our cap breakdown episode I did see some of the comments in there Um I apologize if it wasn’t as um broken down or simple to digest as I hoped it would be So I’m going to revisit it a little bit and I hope I’m going to do it justice here because again I don’t consider myself like a cap specialist or anything So I’m going to try to break it down in in the terminology that I understand it So really quickly there are essentially kind of four tiers to uh an NBA salary cap and and those tiers and how they relate to what you can and can’t do as a basketball as a basketball team as an organization So there are under the cap teams there are over-the cap teams then there are over the first apron teams and then there are second apron teams So over the second apron Um and there are numbers associated with each one of these kind of like thresholds with your NBA payroll I’ll start at the top and work back down The second apron kicks in at $27.8 million The first apron kicks in at $195.9 million The luxury tax line kicks in at $187.9 million And that’s where you start acrewing luxury tax penalties that kind of stuff um the salary cap for next season is projected to be at $154.6 million So if you have you know if your payroll is only $100 million and the cap is $154.6 that gap between that $54.6 million gap that’s when you have cap room That’s when teams create financial space and then they go out and dump a bunch of big money on a free agent that kind of stuff Now as it relates to the Rockets and the concerns about being a second or a first apron team it’s because those things come with certain restrictions There are a lot of things that you can’t do when you become a second apron team That’s why teams get screwed when they become a second apron team Um so basically uh a few of the things that happen if you do become a second apron team So first off things you you become hardcapped at some of these lines if you utilize any of the exceptions or or benefits of the previous tier because then if you if you were to say you know use the full mid-level exception right worth $14.1 million and that would take you over a certain threshold then it’s it’s unfair right you don’t get the benefit of the exception and then you get to bump your payroll number up and then suddenly it’s like oh now we’re a second apron team No there are certain things that you can and can’t do and it’s all related to how much uh money you have on payroll So as it stands the Rockets actually cannot become a second apron team because one of the restrictions for the second apron teams is you cannot aggregate salary in trades which is what the Rockets have done by sending Jaylen Green and Dylan Brooks to Phoenix for Kevin Durant So because they did that they will not or plan to do that I apologize Trade hasn’t happened yet Because they plan to do that they literally cannot become a second apron team It’s not allowed They are hardcapped they cannot exceed that $27.8 million range The other things that can’t be done uh if you want if you’re going to be a second apron team you can’t use the taxpayer MLE or any version of the MLE You can’t send out cash in a trade You can’t acquire a player um that was used uh or using a TPE from the previous season All these different things trigger the second apron and hard cap you Basically the only things you can do you can resign your own free agents you can sign draft picks you can sign players to minimum contracts and you can make trades where one player salary is sent out and is equal to or less than any combined salaries coming back So basically you can only trade one player at a time Uh you can take back more than one player but you can only send out one player at a time Those are the second apron teams And if you’ll remember like at last year’s draft the Wolves were a second apron team and they had no means to improve their roster So they got creative with it They traded with the San Antonio Spurs They got the pick that became Rob Dillingham because one of the few things that you can do as a second apron team is signed your own draft picks So they added some backcourt help with Rob Dillingham by trading for a pick No money involved no players involved and they traded future picks to get a pick right then and there that they were allowed to sign even though they were a second apron team Now first apron teams this is where things get a little bit trickier uh well less tricky just you know it’s it’s a lot to try and follow and I’m hopefully I’m trying to break it down as simply as possible Um first apron teams if you use the taxpayer MLE um you become hardcapped at the second apron Uh for first apron teams though uh if you use more than the taxpayer MLE which this upcoming year it projects to be $5.6 million So if the Rockets use any version of their mid-level exception and they use 7 million 8 million 10 million whatever up to potentially the 14.1 million which is the full amount of the non-tax MLE um if they go that route then they become hardcapped at the first apron which again that first apron number is $195.9 million So they literally cannot exceed that salary number if they use their mid-level exception Um other exceptions other triggers for the first apron using the byanual exception um acquiring a player in a sign and trade signing a buyout player who made more than the non-t taxpayer MLE on a previous contract using more than 100% salary matching in a trade or using a TPE that was created prior to last season So those are all the different things that trigger the first apron and that hard cap you um at the first apron meaning you cannot exceed that amount on your on your payroll Now where the Rockets are likely to be operating uh this upcoming season is as an over-the-cap team um but not a luxury tax team because it benefits them to delay paying that repeater tax until a little bit further down the line So the tax line is $187.9 million And as it stands right now with the Rockets uh still having Jock Landale still Aaron Holiday still Nate Williams all the other pieces on the roster plus Kevin Durant coming back Uh they have 12 out of 15 roster spots filled Uh their projected salaries currently sit at $183.9 million which means they have about $4 million of space between what they’re currently have on payroll versus hitting that luxury tax line They currently still have access to the full non-t tax mid-level exception of $14.1 million but if they were to spend all of that $14.1 million uh they would then exceed uh the $195.9 million first apron cap Um and that’s what you don’t want to do You don’t want to enter that first apron because it limits you It it it hurts you And so for the Rockets um they have $12.1 million of space until they hit that first apron Uh and so they don’t technically have full access to the uh non-ax mid-level exception which is why you see a lot of people saying “Oh okay they’ll just they’ll wave Jock Landale they’ll decline Aaron Holidayiday’s option.” Um and then they’ll fill those slots with cheaper talent you know vet minimum guys uh down the line that kind of stuff Um and that’s where you get into kind of this song and dance with the roster and how you need to flesh out the final remaining spots Um with vet minimum contracts making a little over two million a year or potentially second round picks who only make $1.2 million a year Um so if the Rockets were to decline right or wave Jock Landale that opens up an additional $8 million of room before they would hit that luxury tax threshold So they could literally just wave Jock Landale um and that gives them you know approximately $12 million of space before they hit the luxury tax line They could then decline Aaron Holidayiday’s option That gives them another 5ish million of space So that’s 17 million And then they could go use some of that space some of that money 10 12 million maybe up to 14 million um to sign a free agent And then they would need to flesh out the remaining roster spots with vet minimum contracts or by you know draft you know trading back into the second round of the draft drafting a second round pick signing them to an to a contract which starts at $1.2 million or signing undrafted free agents right or resigning their own free agents right the fact that they have Jeff Green and J Seant Tate are guys they might want to try and bring back on vet minimum deals but they can’t exactly give those guys more than that unfortunately because they are pressed up against some of these um some of these number lines that are going to have uh penalties or negative consequences if they go over some of these uh some of these numbers So I hope that that breakdown explains it a little bit better um and why the Rockets are so delicately balancing the salary cap shenanigans Um again by no means an expert on this stuff but that’s at least my my rough understanding of where things kind of stand Um and that’s why to bring the conversation full circle here uh you know we didn’t see any movement from the Houston Rockets in the first round of the draft there was some reporting that maybe they would try to trade back into the first round of the draft if they could get you know get to one of the prospects that they really really liked Um and then you know by process of elimination you kind of have to wonder okay well what asset or assets would the Rockets have utilized to get back into the first round of the draft And the obvious answer unfortunately is Cam Whitmore Um look I love Cam Whitmore I I think he’s got all the talent in the world I really hope that he’s still on this Rockets team uh come training camp come the start of this next season I think he’s got a very big opportunity here to carve out a role for himself with the way that the roster has kind of opened up now with no more Jaylen Green no more Dylan Brooks but he’s got a buy in defensively right and he’s had some moments of kind of immaturity some pouting this past season that don’t really look good for him And for the from the Rockets perspective Cam’s already completed two years of his four-year rookie contract if they had eyes on a prospect that they really liked and if they could dangle and again I’m assuming they tried to dangle Cam Whitmore in some of these discussions to maybe teams like the Wizards or the Nets with their f you know five first round picks whatever And essentially it would have allowed the Rockets to reset the clock on Cam Whitmore’s rookie contract um while still having a piece that they you know bright future young talent whatever Um ultimately didn’t happen Maybe they dangle camp for some second round picks We don’t know but um it’ll be interesting to see what ultimately happens there Uh but if the Rockets are able to get their hands on a second round pick or two that helps them tremendously with those salary cap numbers because again second round picks clock in at $1.2 million starting salary as opposed to the 2 it’s like 2.1 2.2 whatever that a vet minimum deal makes So it’s easier to sign a second round pick uh or an undrafted guy as kind of to to fill out the rest you know the end of your bench basically as opposed to going and signing you know Joe Blow who’s been in the NBA for seven eight years to eat up a roster spot at the end of the bench because all that money tallies up at the end of the day and the Rockets are playing a very fine dance between being a taxpaying team and not being a taxpaying team uh and and potentially being you know up against that first apron So uh hopefully that uh is a is a decent enough explanation to make things a little bit easier to follow about what the Rockets are trying to do financially moving forward Coming up do want to talk about some of the other stuff from the first round of the NBA draft namely the Phoenix Suns and the fact that they might have a bit of a culture shift and some defensive identity this next season and what that means for their future and the picks that the Rockets own from the Suns We’re going to get there in just one moment First today’s episode is brought to you by Skiims Look when I found out Ski was making underwear for men I’ll admit I was intrigued I’ve heard a lot about their quality from friends and family so had to give them a try And let me tell you they absolutely live up to the hype Look having issues with underwear is the worst Like I’m a boxer briefs kind of 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segment here at Locked on Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball All right quick thoughts on the first round of the NBA draft Um you know things kind of going chalk there at the top Cooper flag to Dallas Dylan Harper to the Spurs uh VJ Edgecomb to the 76ers uh Hornets taking Khan Canipple and then the first little bit of a shakeup in the draft happening at pick five with Ace Bailey Man talk about a disaster class in like pre-draft just everything because Ace Bailey tried so hard to like tank his draft stock to get to one of Washington or New Orleans or Brooklyn and failed in doing so with the Utah Jazz deciding to swoop in and take him at pick five And he I like on draft night he looked pissed He looked so on what’s supposed to be the best night of his life he looked so upset um just terrible terrible advice from his agent the the overall direction that he took Um and I’ll tell you what that’s that entire I don’t know that’s not the kind of guy that I would be wanting to try and build a team around I’m just I’m just saying So uh and that wasn’t the only one because you also had Colin Murray Boils who got drafted to the Raptors and he like literally looked like he dropped an Fbomb when he found out he was going to Toronto It was kind of it was funny to see his reaction So it’s weird that these you know it’s supposed to be like a special night You made it to the NBA whatever and some of these players are just like upset about where they landed and it’s like dude you made it to the NBA Like be happy Um what I will say and what what I want to address mostly here in this segment as well as maybe a few other tidbits about the the first round uh was the Phoenix Suns making some impressive moves dare dare I say Uh Kaman Malawatch falling to pick 10 was not something that I expected at all I really thought that he’d be off the board I thought that the Pelicans desperately needed you know a big man I thought they he’d be an option to go to them I thought that the Raptors were for sure going to take him at pick nine if he was still on the board And lo and behold he makes it all the way to pick 10 Rockets make the selection for the Phoenix Suns which means the Phoenix Suns adding the defensive presence out of Duke Um and then subsequently they not only make that selection at pick 10 with Kaman Malawatch being there surprisingly having fallen that far in the draft they also traded for Mark Williams So the Suns went from basically just having Nick Richards at their five spot to suddenly having Mark Williams come on Malawatch and Nick Richards a little triumvirate of bigs Um two of which defensive minded Although Mark Williams is like a pseudo defensive big He’s not like a real defensive big He’s you know he gets big numbers he rebounds but he’s not like a phenomenal defender Maybe things change in Phoenix Maybe different with a motor but also TBD on whether or not he actually passes his physical A um but these you know these two pickups for the Suns and then you also factor in right they have Ryan Dunn on their roster who was absolutely an alldefensive caliber player this past season Dylan Brooks added to the mix Jaylen Green who’s become a very solid defender in his own right Devin Booker who can defend when he’s locked in and engaged and not you know going through the motions out there Like Royce O’Neal if they keep him like I don’t know The Suns might actually be like a decent defensive team this next season And that’s concerning because we want to see the Suns implode We want to see them fall apart at the seams and we want to see that 2027 pick convey in the juiciest of fashions becoming you know a top 10 or even a top five pick would be a phenomenal outcome for that pick not just two years down the line Now let don’t get it twisted There’s still a lot that the Suns have to do and improve upon and they got to they’re trying to trade Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neal and like who knows what that team actually look and they’re still straddled with Bradley Beal So it’s not like the Suns are suddenly like a threat in the Western Conference but they might actually be building towards something that’s a bit more sustainable in the long term And and both Malawatch and Williams are solid pickups for a team that desperately needed some defensive integrity some size at the five spot Um and yeah so I mean between I mean you could envision their starting lineup if they elect to you know move on from Bradley Beal or buy him out or trade him if there’s a team dumb enough to take Bradley Beal’s contract on you know if they have a starting lineup of Devin Booker Jaylen Green Ryan Dunn Dylan Brooks at the four um and then you know Mark Williams at the five and and kind of alternating Mark Williams with Kaman Malawatch getting 15 20 minutes a night That’s a pretty decent defensive lineup It’s not going to be like top 10 or anything but they might be like you know potentially kind of middle of the pack defensively Um and then depending on how things look offensively for their team they might actually be potentially turning some things around here Uh and that sucks because again just like when we did all the Nets pickwatch stuff for years kind of you know sitting here and and and looking at the outcome of what you know the the disaster that ultimately hit the Nets and and you know praying on their downfall Now we continue to pray on the downfall of the Phoenix Suns And credit where credit is due Brian Gregory the Suns front office they they made some they made a good selection with Malawatch They made a a smart trade for Mark Williams Um we’ll see what happens because if Williams can’t stay healthy then it’s you know probably a terrible trade But um I don’t know It’s it’s one of those where you look at the outcome of this and it’s not ideal from a Rockets perspective But the Suns also play in a brutal Western Conference and so the likelihood of them actually like making any kind of noise like they might be like a pluckucky fringe playin team um this next upcoming season and then you know they’re they’re one significant injury away to either of you know to basically what if Booker misses any significant amount of time at all that Suns team is going to flounder and and that’s you know the the concern um with their lack of depth their lack of solid rotational pieces you know around Devin Booker So I think it’s a step in the right direction for them but it’s not like some massive leap into them being you know a playoff caliber team all of a sudden So I just figured I’d address it here on the show because it does impact the Rockets and the picks that they still own via the Phoenix Suns further down the line Uh another team though that I do want to highlight because it’s just so ridiculous What the hell are the Pelicans doing man joe Dumars What is he smoking because the Pelicans take Jeremiah Fears with their seventh overall pick and then they make what is arguably not even arguably it fell out of it It’s the worst trade of the NBA offseason so far Easily the worst trade of draft night where they trade a 2026 next year’s pick Fully unprotected The best of their own pick or the Milwaukee Bucks pick Keep in mind the Bucks have a Damen Lillard injury and a depleted roster and very few prospects on the horizon The Bucks could be an awful team this next year You know if Giannis misses a chunk of time like it’s game over for the Bucks That pick could convey top five from Milwaukee They traded that pick to Atlanta to move up just 10 spots in the draft from pick 23 to pick 13 to draft Derek Queen Now look I like Derek Queen and obviously the Pelicans do too and they really wanted to pair him in their front court with Zion Williamson makes sense But for a team that just won 21 games 21 and 61 this past season to bank on the health of Zion Williamson which has not been a very bankable asset in you know so far in his career like Pelicans are are what are a disaster waiting to happen And there’s they’re still going to be missing DeJonte Murray for part of the season too Like I have no idea what Dum Mars and the Pelicans are doing And one of my closest friends he’s a diehard Pelicans fan Um if you’re an Everyday you’ll probably remember him He’s my guy Chris He usually comes on during NBA uh All-Star weekend and helps recap the All-Star weekend stuff I don’t think he did it this past year We had some conflicts but he’s been on here a few different times on the show in previous years but um I feel for him because like he he was like he was like “Just end me.” like he was like I being a Pelicans fan is so exhausting I feel for him I really do Uh Pel’s just a total mess And then uh last thing that I I’ll talk about uh from the draft is I’m really shocked that the Nets made all five of their first round selections Honestly they had five first round picks Everybody had them pegged as like making a trade or packaging some picks to trade up and they were just like “Nope we’re going to take all five guys.” Sean Marks afterwards was like “We believe each and every one of these guys has untapped potential.” Um talk about a big swing man That’s literally onethird of your roster right there in brand new rookie signings That’s how you tank Like like Shawn Marks is literally taking a page out of the Rockets playbook from when they drafted Jaylen Green Alpin Shingu and Josh Christopher and Usman Garuba and signed four rookies and and then just went into the next season with like no veteran presence just just rolling the ball out there losing a ton of games That’s what it feels like the Nets are about to do this next season Um with all these young guys that they’re going to be employing it’s going to be ridiculous Um with that I want your thoughts on Fred Van Vleet’s contract extension I want your thoughts on the Cab stuff that we talked about Would you like to see the Rockets try and uh buy back into or trade back into the second round of the NBA draft are there any players that you would have your eyes on if the Rockets can get back into the second round of the draft rasheed Fleming not drafted in the first round Kind of ridiculous I don’t think he’d be a pick that the Rockets would be able to get to because they it probably cost a lot to get into uh the top part of the second round The Minnesota Timber right there at pick 31 probably fielding a lot of calls for teams that are interested in Rasheir Fleming Um but I will say one name that I really do like for the Rockets in the second round of the draft Ryan Kulkbrinter Uh that kid would come in he’d be he’s like a traditional defensive drop big He looks like he’s working on his three ball He looks like a copy paste of Brook Lopez honestly Um I think I’ve talked about him a little bit on the show before but that would be a guy that I’d love for the Rockets to maybe take a look at Uh especially if they’re going to be losing Jock Land if they need to wave him to clear that $8 million of salary off the books Uh it’d be nice for them to have at least one more big man option to go to if you know Shingun misses anytime or Steven Adams misses any time or needs to sit out some backtobacks Yes they still have Jabarius Jr that they can run as their small ball five Um and yes they’ve still got like Nefalik Dante on a two-way like waiting in the wings but uh Ryan Coquer looks like he’s going to be a really serviceable big man at the NBA level So I think the Rockets should absolutely take a look at him but give me your thoughts on potential second round targets Fred’s contract all that good stuff Uh as always thanks so much for checking out the show Remember the best way to help us grow the show is to listen every single day on a podcast platform of your choosing and then like comment subscribe on YouTube But as always thank you so much for watching Thank you so much for listening We look forward to having you back right here at Locked on Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball

Rockets Front Office MASTERMINDS Fred VanVleet Deal | Will Houston SURPRISE With An NBA Draft TRADE?

Houston Rockets reshape their future with Fred VanVleet’s game-changing contract. Will this move allow them to add another significant piece to the roster?

Host Jackson Gatlin (@JTGatlin) breaks down the Rockets’ savvy $50 million deal for VanVleet, exploring its impact on team chemistry and salary cap flexibility. The discussion covers NBA Draft strategies, including the Phoenix Suns’ surprising picks and how they might affect Houston’s future draft assets. Gatlin analyzes the complex NBA salary cap structure, revealing how it influences team-building decisions across the league.

Tune in for expert insights on the Rockets’ offseason moves and their potential to transform the team’s trajectory in the upcoming NBA season.

#Rockets #NBA #FredVanVleet

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