Rockets SHOPPING Cam Whitmore In FLUID Trade Talks… WHY!? | Stay Ready Crew STAYING In Houston

Rockets SHOPPING Cam Whitmore In FLUID Trade Talks… WHY!? | Stay Ready Crew STAYING In Houston

on today’s show reports that the Rockets stay ready crew will be staying in Houston and the Rockets apparently shopping around Cam Whitmore’s name in fluid trade discussions why that’s the case and more all coming up right here at Locked on Rockets
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ignition sequence start 6 5 4 3 2 1 zero 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 also the host of Locked on NBA Thursdays be sure to follow along wherever you listen to your podcast 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 now today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time download the Game Time app create an account use code locked on NBA for $20 off of your first purchase and as always thanks so much for making Lockdown 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 on today’s show couple different reports to focus in on here for the Houston Rockets one of which being Cam Whitmore’s name openly being discussed in fluid trade talks by the Houston Rockets we’ll try to unpack why that might be the case and what the Rockets may be looking for in a Cam Whitmore trade return as well as the exciting news at least I find it exciting the Stay Ready crew all planning to stay in Houston um per Sham Shirania the Houston Rockets intend to sign their free agents of J Sea Tate Aaron Holiday and Jeff Green on new contracts to bring them all back for next season both JS Shawn Tate and Jeff Green were unrestricted free agents and then Aaron Holidayiday had his team option for next season uh and it appears that the Rockets fully intend to bring back each one of these members of what was you know appropriately dubbed the stay ready crew this past season for the Houston Rockets and look uh this is important on a le on a for a variety of factors i’m going to try to work through it and then we’ll get to the Cam Whitmore stuff uh you know starting next segment and the rest of the show will be focused on the Cam Whitmore situation and the possible targets and and trying to unpack all that mess so first and foremost um to help people understand right the way the NBA works the way the salary cap works all this stuff you have to have at least 14 players on your roster you have to fill out all those slots you don’t have to have the 15th dude on your roster just like you don’t have to have any two-way guys on your roster but spots one through 14 have to be filled out that is like an NBA requirement therefore that math gets mathed in when you’re trying to figure out your salary cap situation and how much money you can pay to all these players and that’s why the other day we talked about the fact that maybe the Houston Rockets would look into you know buying back into with some cash or or you know future assets to get back into the second round of the draft because second round draft picks make a little bit less than players making the one-year vet minimum a one-year vet minimum is $2.3 million a second round draft pick starts out at $1.2 million and that you know $1.1 million difference might not seem like a bunch on $1.1 million is a lot of money for a normal person like you know most of us probably listening to this podcast or me or whoever anyways but in the grand scheme of you know an NBA salary cap and trying to figure out you know payroll and and and all these numbers that 1.1 million is significant so for the Rockets to reportedly be on the same page with all of Jun Tate Aaron Holiday and Jeff Green about their approach to this off seasonason and their desire to bring back all three of of those players is huge because that actually as it stands if all the Rockets did is bring back those three guys all three of them on vet minimum deals for one year so only $2.3 million that’s it not a not a multi-year contract none of that stuff which is totally fair for all three parties that brings the Rockets just below the luxury tax threshold they have about like a million maybe $2 million of room i might be missing like a you know an incentive or two or some bonuses in there for some of the players but some of the trusted cap heads uh you know on in NBA C salary cap Twitter have basically said that the Rockets are coming in just below the luxury tax line assuming they keep everything else in place so Jo Landale stays Cam Whitmore stays those three guys sign vet minimum deals and that puts them right at the cusp of being a luxury tax team um and they still have that 15th roster slot open so this is big because you need to fill out those into the bench slots these are great kind of culture guys aaron Holiday has been a very stable veteran and in fact Aaron Holiday is of the three guys here aaron Holidayiday is the one who maybe honestly to a lesser degree probably Jon Tate too if Tate really wanted to he could probably go find a team that’d be willing to kick him you know part of the MLE to make you know you know a couple million dollars more than what he’s making on a vet minimum deal with the Rockets for only one year um and he could maybe get a multi-year agreement he’s a serviceable enough like could be like a ninth tenth man in a rotation instead of you know on the rockets end of the bench brigade you know holding down those 10 through 14 spots and seeing inconsistent playing time and basically being you know kind of an insurance policy at times for whenever one of the other wings you know further up in the rotation needs some time off is hurt whatever but he’s also happy here right he’s like the captain of this team he’s the longest tenur member of the Houston Rockets he’s been here through the James Harden saga um lived through the Silus era rebuild and you know is now not a consistent rotation piece of this you know 52- win team but is very important to the culture and absolutely had moments where he stepped up last season whether it was when Jabari was hurt or when Dylan was hurt or whoever’s missing time like Jade is a reliable dependable piece to be able to keep at the end of your bench and he’s great for the vibes right everybody loves him and then same can be said for Aaron Holidayiday Aaron Holiday could probably go command a little bit more than a vet minimum deal on the open market but if he likes it here in Houston you know then I I commend them for being able to strike a deal that that both sides feel good about um even if it’s not a multi-year contract and that’s part of the reason why the Rockets may have paid Aaron Holiday what they did pay him last season because it ultimately was a little bit of an overpay the contract that they struck with him you know making about it was a little under $5 million that was probably like a kick ahead of like hey next summer when you know when Jaylen’s extension kicks in when Alp’s extension kicks in the Rockets were going to be faced with some of these financial decisions regardless of if they traded for Kevin Durant i think that gets lost in the conversation a lot the Rockets literally sent out the exact same salary jaylen Green when his extension kicks in making 33 million a year plus Dylan Brooks 22 million a year makes basically the exact same amount of money as KD it’s just a two for one switcheroo so the Rockets would have been under all this exact same luxury tax scrutiny and and restrictions and trying to juggle you know fleshing out the roster and adding another impact piece all this stuff right the only difference is they combined Jaylen Green and Dylan Brooks into Kevin Durant so I think that gets lost around in the shuffle too is people think “Oh well if they didn’t trade for KD they wouldn’t be in this position.” No they very much would be so you keep J Shante you keep Aaron Holiday and even though Jeff Green’s like the most seasoned member of the uh stay ready crew he’s still got some game left in the tank and with the with the acquisition of Kevin Durant you knew for a fact that Uncle Jeff wasn’t going anywhere right these two guys started their career together with the Seattle SuperSonics uh they grew together they played together again in Brooklyn and now there’s a chance for them to finish their careers together here as members of the Houston Rockets so it’s kind of cool to you know see how the NBA has these twists and turns throughout a you know throughout specific players careers and how they ultimately reunite for the Rockets having J Shant Tate Aaron Holiday Jeff Green as your depth pieces at the end of the bench to step up in case of injury or to close out the garbage time at the end of games as well as to keep those guys in that locker room right that’s another level of continuity which was such a big buzzword for Rockets fans and for Rafel Stone during his exit presser there’s other ways that you can maintain continuity and keeping those three guys around for practices and to help continue mentoring the other young guys and to have as stabilizing pieces at the end of your bench is huge so it’s exciting news that the Rockets are able to keep those guys and they’re not going to have to dig around and go find other guys to flesh out the end of the rotation this off season the bigger slightly bigger slightly more concerning news though the reports that the Rockets have been engaged in fluid trade talks centered on Cam Whitmore why that might be the case what the Rockets are possibly looking for in a Cam Whitmore return and more coming up here in just one moment first today’s episode is brought to you by Skiims look when I found out Ski was making underwear from men I was intrigued i’ve heard about their quality from friends and family so I had to give them a try and let me tell you they absolutely live up to the hype having issues with underwear is the worst look for me at least personally I’m a boxer briefs guy and historically you know you buy a fresh set of boxer briefs and within like not even 3 months of you know 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podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball all right reportedly from the athletics Kelly Eco rockets third-year win can Whitmore has been the subject of a number of trade discussions in recent days sources tell the athletic situation is best described as fluid right now so the little bit of backstory on this trying to unpack why this might be the case understandably you know Cam’s rookie year he did not have as big a role as the Rockets tried to give a Thompson in their rookie in the both of their rookie seasons but then due to you know guys missing time and different situational things uh Cam was given an opportunity near the end of that season and really made the most of his opportunity as a rookie you know got you know the nickname Mr purr 36 with the amount of damage that he was able to do in a very short amount of time coming off the Rockets bench um and then there was a lot of hope and optimism going into year two this past season for Cam that he would be a part of the rotation and this you know super upside you know scoring wing who had all the prom all this talent all the promise in the world to turn into a really highlevel prospect and unfortunately wasn’t really able to put things together and that’s not I’m not going to say it’s fully Cam’s fault I won’t um the situation is probably pretty frustrating because unfortunately at the end of the day even though a lot of people like to pencil Cam in on the depth chart as a two guard you know who was playing behind Jaylen Green or you know further down on the depth chart they like to throw Cam at that shooting guard position unfortunately Cam’s skill set is not of a primary ball handler it’s not cam is very much a wing even though you can play you can play Cam at the two you need a ball handler playing next to Cam Whitmore you cannot throw Cam Whitmore in the game and say “Hey go handle the rock go get guys involved.” He is a play finisher not a play starter not a primary initiator and so that’s the limitation in his skill set right now as a player and so this past season the Rockets you know rolled into the year with Fred and Jaylen in the starting lineup and they tried to give Reed Shepard those backup guard minutes because Reed Shepard is supposed to be a ball handler and he’s also a rookie though he wasn’t ready for it so they gave him about 20 25 games before they then pivoted to Aaron Holiday and Aaron Holiday stabilizing veteran presence can be your primary ball handler in a pinch ideally you’re playing Aaron Holiday more offball though which is exactly what the Rockets did and they still utilized Fred and Jaylen and really kind of staggered those two guys as your primary ball handlers and then as the season moved on Amen Thompson got more and more comfortable as a primary initiator as well emo started to trust him more and we started to see more and more of that as the season progressed so painting that picture right if you’re Cam Whitmore and you had a productive rookie season you think that this team is on the on the upswing you think you’re going to be a big part of it and then you look at a rookie who displaces you in the rotation who gets an opportunity ahead of you a spot that you think should be yours in the rotation and then when they pivot away from that rookie then they go to the vet at the end of the bench and you’re still not getting minutes because you’re buried on the wing depth chart behind Dylan Amin Jabari Tari there are four other guys ahead of you and you’re not breaking into the guard rotation because you’re not a ball handler you’re not breaking into the wing rotation because all those guys value defense considerably more than you do which means they’re more valuable in EOA’s eyes i’m not saying I agree with any of this i’m just saying I’m just stating how it kind of all played out that led to understandably some frustration from Cam Whitmore he thinks he’s got all the talent in the world right and unfortunately in the opportunities that Cam was getting he wasn’t super locked in right very aloof at times lacadasical not taking the moment seriously even during garbage time right he had moments where he just like straight up walked off the court you know all the body language experts on Rockets Twitter were analyzing the situation but at the end of the day like there were some concerns there right some attitude problems and this circles back to maybe some of the stuff that you know some of the book that was out on Cam in the pre-draft process right maybe one of the reasons he ultimately did fall as much as he did i will say in my personal experience with Cam both in a professional capacity and off camera whatever Cam is nothing short of the most like humble respectful like honestly joyous and kind of animated young man ever like if you can like get him talking about something or ask him like a question the right way it’s funny watching him kind of go from that like you know just like very quiet you know almost like frustrated looking face to then like he lights up right and he has this like you know really awesome smile just whatever like he’s he’s a he’s a great kid right but he hasn’t bought into Emodoka and what he wants out of him defensively and the expectations for how they need him to round out his game offensively and it sucks because he’s got all this talent but he just hasn’t figured it out and hasn’t maybe figured out the politics of understanding hey I need to put my best foot forward you know in practices showing up on time staying a little later doing the extra work all that stuff in order to earn a spot in the rotation and then keep the spot in the rotation by continuing to do all those little things so it sucks because especially with you know Jaylen Green and Dylan Brooks being moved it kind of felt like this upcoming season would be the opp the first real opportunity in Cam’s career to carve out a spot in the Rockets rotation and I’m not saying that it won’t happen but it’s understandable given everything that the Rockets have the the amount of evidence that they have at this point cam being two years into his four-year rookie contract he’s going to be due for an extension next off season it makes a lot of sense that the Rockets are looking at Cam as a way to potentially add a missing piece to their roster in the sense that the Rockets are unfortunately right now a little ball handler light after losing Jaylen Green they their primary ball handlers right now as it stands are Fred Van Vleet Amin Thompson who’s still not going to be perfect at it right still growing still learning so not like I’m not going to say he’s an unreliable option but there’s going to be some growing pains there for sure next season so you’ve got Fred you’ve got a men you have Reed Shepard a lot of pressure on his shoulders to potentially step up this next season then again maybe you have to pivot to some more Aaron Holiday potentially and that would be very disappointing if Reed Shepard can’t at least hold down the fort as the backup point guard next season that would seriously start to raise some alarm bells at least in my opinion so they kind of need like one more ball handler right ideally the Rockets need a two guard ideally they need another slightly bigger they don’t want to bring in another point guard right but they need like another two guard that can come in and help alleviate some of those secondary ball handler responsibilities maybe somebody who could be a bit of a knockdown shooter would also would be awesome somebody who brings a little bit of a defensive edge um doesn’t have to be you know a a I don’t know i don’t think it needs to be another like 3 and role player or something but you know somebody that kind of fits that criteria feels like what they need out of that spot and one of the other reasons that I think you’re hearing these reports these rumors right now is largely because of the fact that the Rockets need to figure out what they ultimately want to do with Jock Landale because if the Rockets feel like they can package Jock Landale and Ken Whitmore together which is approximately 11.5 million of salary with Jock Landale’s $8 million and then K Whitmore making about $3.5 million jock Landale has a guarantee date on his contract of June 29th which means that if the Rockets get to June 29th and they don’t know what they want to do with Jock Landale they have to decide are we paying are we guaranteeing his contract or are we letting him walk for nothing and so this is the the the tightroppe kind of balancing act for the Rockets is figuring out okay one is there a target in free agency that we feel confident about going after if we decline Jock Land’s contract right because if the Rockets don’t pick up Jock Landale’s $8 million contract they can then use that $8 million and then probably a little more right a little more on top of that because they’re right there against the tax line about a million or $2 million of space so they have approximately about 9 or$10 million of the non-taxpayer MLE to go chase a potential free agent and add them to the mix what they’re attempting to do right now before going into the free agency route is trying to see if there is a trade agreement that they can strike with an opposing team probably centered around Jock Landale and Cam Whitmore to add that missing piece to add that depth piece to add that you know extra ball handler in the back court a two guard that could slot in off the bench that would be in the depth chart they’d be playing behind Amin Thompson in the depth chart but realistically that would be kind of like the ninth maybe 10th man in the Rockets rotation to help alleviate some of the ball handling pressure and duties on Fred Van Vleet Amen Thompson and Reed Shepard now understandably Katie is going to handle the basketball a lot too like he’ll take some of the pressure off maybe Shingun has a little bit of a bigger role offensively as a facilitator this next season instead of it being so guard ccentric like it was you know previously with Fred and Jaylen dominating a lot of the basketball not to say that Shingun didn’t get his touches but that was kind of like the trio of how the Rockets initiated their offense was one of Shingun Jaylen or Fred most of last season little bit of a min Thompson um so the Rockets have options here right and that’s the important thing is they’re basically trying to see can we find a trade before we have to make a decision on Jock Landale’s contract and then ultimately if they can’t find a deal that works for them either with Jock Landale by himself or with Jock Landale and Cam Whitmore attached to it and maybe some future capital attached to that as well if it’s a player that they really really really like then I would imagine what’s going to happen is they will decline Jock Land’s contract they won’t pick up the option on it well it’s not an option it’s just not a fully guaranteed contract they will basically let Jock Landell walk away for nothing in free agency and then they will pivot to free agency and try and pursue a target that they can then fill with that 9 to10 million salary um to to add to that depth chart in that guard spot that they do need a little bit of additional depth for so that’s kind of the whole situation and why it’s unfolded the way that it has i’ve been on record and I want to say it one more time i want Cam to have the opportunity this next season i think he deserves it i think he’s incredibly talented and I think that if he just gets a fair shake at being a part of the rotation consistently not you know pulled in and out due to injuries and whatever I think he can buy it i really do think he’s a good kid he’s incredibly talented he is hardworking like I think that Cam deserves the shot this next season but I also understand where the Rockets are coming from in the fact that they might just value a better option somebody who more understands their role instead of somebody who’s a bit more of a project um despite the incredibly high ceiling that Cam has somebody that is more established knows their role and the Rockets know exactly what they would get out of them as a contributor starting next season rather than going into next season with kind of a question mark about oh what’s this player going to look like overtime and can they buy in and will they step up defensively all these kinds of things so coming up we’re going to take a look at some of those possible trade targets who could the Houston Rockets be looking at if they were to package Cam Whitmore and Jock Landale together in a trade before hitting free agency we’re going to get there in just one moment first today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time have you ever decided at the last minute to head to a ball game with friends or family maybe it’s game day and you suddenly realize you want to be in the stands that’s exactly where Game Time comes 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that deal to try and add the impact guy that they can get via trade right now before having to ultimately decline Jock Land’s option and then going into free agency and canvasing the market there that’s kind of the the order of operations here the Rockets are trying to see if they can get a trade piece done first and then if they can’t then they go into free agency and they have that 9 to10 million to play with to try and add somebody so what that tells me is they’re probably a little concerned that maybe they would get outbid for somebody c like maybe a Gary Trent Jr type right in free agency um Luke Canard whoever somebody that might be on the Rocket’s radar that they’d love to pick up but that they’re worried that they might get outbid on because they’re trying to stay a little below that luxury tax threshold so they’re trying to see if they can get it done via trade right now rather than putting all their eggs in the free agency basket which is smart that being said I went on the Twitter streets and I put the post out there and I I canvased and I I asked some opinions uh about what you would like to see the Rockets try and do or some of the names you’d like to see the Rockets try and go after um using the Jock Landale Cam Whitmore you know combo package of assets and I’m not ideally right you’re not throwing anything else into this ideally you’re not including draft picks you’re not doing like you’re just trying to entice somebody with like an upside swing on Cam Whitmore hey we like Cam we don’t have really have a spot for him take a swing on him we want your slightly more established player established product because we’re trying to maybe win right now and we don’t really have the time to commit to seeing if Cam is going to work out or not um what for better or for worse right so here’s a list of the names that I’ve come up with so far uh first on the docket Matise Thyel with the Portland Trailblazers uh Batist would immediately fit into Emodoka’s defense verse culture in Houston he’d add another kind of like ace defensive you know point of attack guy um and could you I mean could you imagine perimeter players trying to score on you know a trio of Matis Thelabel Amin Thompson and then like Tari Een out there on the perimeter it would be it’d be absurd to witness so I I really like Matis Style he’s only making 11.5 million this next season it is a player option and I don’t know if it was reported or not that he picked up the option so that’s kind of up in the air right now potentially um but that would match perfectly with the Jock Landale Cam Whitmore salary uh together now the only issue is that’s he’s on a one-year deal so you then have to figure out next offseason right do you keep him do you resign him is he going to walk away for nothing in free agency that’s the tough part here next name on the docket uh Pelicans Herb Jones herb would be fantastic in Houston um you know he’s become a a pretty solid knockdown three-point shooter fantastic defender very clearly like an allNBA caliber defensive piece when he’s locked in and engaged um he’s making $13.9 million this next season and then 14.9 million the season after in a vacuum absolutely steal of a deal for what Herb Jones gives you as a starting caliber like all NBA caliber defensive piece however with where the Rockets are at I don’t know what things would h what they’d have to juggle around because I do think in a vacuum like if you if you add Herb Jones I think it pushes them a scoch over the luxury tax threshold and I don’t know what cap gymnastics that they could pull off to stay under that line if you did add her add Herb Jones because he’s making about $2.4 $4 million more than the outgoing salary of Jock Landale and Cam Whitmore um which would certainly push the Rockets into that tax threshold and that’s what it appears at least right now that they’re trying to avoid so maybe it means you include you know maybe it means you include uh Nate Williams in the deal or you send him to a tertiary team or maybe you toss Nate Williams into the you know Kevin Durant trade or something and I will say that as a quick aside sorry rabbit hole meant to include this earlier um the Rockets could still expand the Kevin Durant trade because it hasn’t happened yet it’s only been agreed to in principle and they could expand the KD trade and then factor in whatever this trade is that they’re looking for that the calls that they’ve taken on Cam Whitmore or Jock Landale whatever they can add that in as like a side trade in addition to the KD trade which would could potentially help from a salary matching perspective or trying to eat up some money or sending some salary to a third team or or a fourth team whatever so the Rockets can try and get a little creative about how they circumvent some of these cap logistics here but Herb Jones would be a huge addition right kind of like Matis Thyel doesn’t exactly answer like the need for another ball handler but fantastic defensive piece and same concept as Matis Style right imagine Herb Jones and a Min Thompson locking up players in the back court together like that’d be hell right you you you go and call for a screen to get a Men Thompson off you and suddenly you’re you’re you’re met with Herb Jones um that would suck for most offensive players in the NBA uh next up a trio of names from the Chicago Bulls starting from I’m going to say I’m going to say most likely to least likely most likely potentially here lonzo Ball lonzo is in a in the rare camp of addressing all of the potential needs of this trade with one piece because he’s a plus level defender he’s become a reliable three-point shooter and he can be that secondary ball handler right he can be the guy that takes some of the pressure off Fred and Amen and Reed coming off the bench and he could give you a solid 15 20 or 25 a night um and play that you know extra ball handler role within the Rockets offense and fit in beautifully on the defensive side of things isn’t a guy that needs the ball in his hands but can take some of that pressure off the other primary ball handlers so I like the Lonzo idea he’s only making 10 million this year and he’s got a team option for $10 million next year so he’s on a steel of a deal and his story right his bounce back from all the injuries still being f you know being a contributing member to this Bulls team this past season has been nothing short of miraculous that being said the injuries are a glaring concern a major red flag right do the Rockets really want to take that kind of a swing on a player like Lonzo Ball and then have him get hurt 10 games into the season or something ridiculous like that it would certainly hurt to send out Cam Whitmore and to get a guy that immediately comes back and gets injured um not saying it’s going to happen but Lonzo’s faced his fair share of adversity and that might not be a risk that the Rockets are ultimately willing to take uh trying to flesh out their rotation but I on paper if you could guarantee that Lonzo stayed healthy my god that’d be a perfect fit that’d be so perfect i would I’d be mashing that trade button uh furiously trying to make it happen next up medium likelihood outcome uh AO Dumu ao is a really solid young player um really like what he you know brings to the table for the Bulls however um AO is going to be due for a payday soon and this is the problem is is trading for anybody that is only on a one-year deal means you might only be getting them for that one season and that would certainly hurt right for the Rockets to have to figure out and juggle okay what are they doing with their contract situations next summer all that mess so but AO really solid defensive piece um you know a little little you know I won’t say raw offensively maybe some untapped potential there as well too um could do a lot worse than him and he’s only making $7.5 million this next season so that might actually be a situation where the Rockets could trade for AO Dumu and then still have a little bit of money to toy around with uh with the with the mid-level exception to go add maybe one more piece to their roster and they would need to do so assuming that whatever you assuming you’re doing a two for one trade here with Jock Landale and Cam Whitmore you’re going to have to bring in at least one more player to hit that 14 slot minimum on the roster so that’s another consideration to have to make here um that anybody that they do bring back they’re going to still need that little bit of space that little bit of room to sign one more guy and it could it could just be an undrafted guy um the Rockets did get their hands on an undrafted guy that they’re going to be bringing to training camp reportedly uh Cam Matthews from Mississippi State total defensive guy you know crazy defensive upside can’t play can’t shoot the ball worth a lick like 20% from three 50% from the line awful shooter um total project piece we’ll see what he looks like in summer league and we’ll see if he can actually carve out a two-way spot on the Rockets roster but like maybe you throw him a bone and give him like a you know a rookie deal and he’s only making 1.2 mil right to flesh out that 14th spot on the roster something like that but AO would be interesting as a pickup and then this is the pie in the sky outcome and I do not think this has any remotely amount of legs whatever but I saw people suggesting it so I figured I’d talk about it uh Kobe White kobe White’s going into the final year of his deal making $12.8 million and Kobe is a fantastic scoring threat like if you could if you could have this Rocket team and just add Kobe White’s scoring as that sixth man pop off the bench my god just hand him the Larry O’Brien immediately um that being said I don’t think it’s likely but who knows who knows with what the Bulls are trying to do are they building around Josh Giddy they’ve got Patrick Williams on this like absurd you know five-year deal and he hasn’t panned out the way that they thought he would um I don’t know i just um maybe you could entice him with like Jo Cam and then maybe for a guy like Kobe White you’d be willing to go further to include some you know a future draft pick or two if you really believe that you know he want he would want to be in Houston long term and you could come to terms on a on a future contract with him all that stuff um so who knows kobe White would be a an absurd pickup i don’t think that’s likely whatsoever um and a couple more names here to consider i got three more that I’m going to get through really quickly aaron Nesmith with the Pacers um and also Benedict Matherin with the Pacers who knows what’s happening in Indiana right now with Tyers Hallebertton set to miss you know most if not all of next season with his Achilles tear um really disappointing end for the Pacers year uh but they’re also faced with a decision of you know trying to bring back Miles Turner and if they do bring back Miles Turner they’re going to be a tax team they are going to be a team that needs to offload some salary and it would likely be like in order probably like Obi-Wan then Matin and then much further down the list losing Aaron Nesmith so I don’t think Nesmith is likely whatsoever but he fits the the mold from a salary perspective um so but who knows right there are a lot of teams that are dealing with either ducking the luxury tax or dealing with the first and second aprons that might be uh interested in the possibility of adding right an upside swing talent like Cam Whitmore as well as non-g guaranteed salary like Jock Landel that they’d be able to take back in a trade and then immediately you know wave or keep floating around if they want to you know trade with somebody else but then you know ba basically be able to have that 8 million fall off the books immediately is a pretty nice benefit and that’s you know credit to the Rockets front office for structuring Jock Land’s deal the way that they did last one here you rockets you guys are relentless everybody wants Quint Quinton Grimes in a Houston Rockets jersey um like I don’t know what Quinton Grimes is going to get paid from the 76ers and Rafel Stone and Daryl Moy are very much they’re they’re still tight they’re still very good friends they work together for you know the better part of like 15 almost 20 years or something uh maybe there’s a deal there to be had where the Rockets could you know do a signin trade for Quinton Grimes although that would that would hardcap them at the first apron and that becomes a very precarious situation to be in further down the line so maybe that’s not something that they would look at doing but I don’t know if you could get Quinton Grimes for Jock Landale Cam Whitmore and Nate Williams and like a future draft pick or something that’s probably a slam dunk deal that’s that’s better than any of the other deals that I’ve discussed here and then you just go out and you flesh out and you you do the minimum contracts you go you go add you know two or three undrafted rookies and give them rookie scale deals to flesh out the rest of the roster uh with those $1.2 million contracts to call it a day that would be that’d be one hell of a team right there with Quinton Grimes coming off the bench uh as your secondary ball handler but also another ace defensive player to lock in and to be able to play alongside a men Thompson and Tari E and Jabari Smith Jr and Kevin Durant who’s still got it defensively my god I’m getting excited just thinking about it i don’t think that’s possible i not I won’t say that it’s not that it’s not possible i don’t think it’s likely whatsoever but those are some options right i want to know your thoughts i want to know the names that you’d like to see the Houston Rockets potentially go after if they are hellbent on moving on from Cam Whitmore and packaging him with Jock Landale’s salary um let me know your thoughts we will have a free agency preview episode out so we will talk about some of those names on the free agency market if the Rockets ultimately don’t make a move and it looks like they’re going to have to flesh out the roster via free agency instead we’ll have that covered for you right here of course on the show but as always thank you so much for checking out our show remember the best way to help us grow 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 and we look forward to having you back right here at Locked On Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball

Rockets SHOPPING Cam Whitmore In FLUID Trade Talks… WHY!? | Stay Ready Crew STAYING In Houston

Houston Rockets look to shake up roster with unexpected moves. Are they gearing up to add another significant contributor?

Host Jackson Gatlin (@JTGatlin) breaks down the Rockets’ recent signings of their “Stay Ready” crew and explores shocking trade rumors surrounding Cam Whitmore. The host analyzes Houston’s complex salary cap situation post-Kevin Durant trade and its impact on potential moves. Gatlin examines intriguing trade targets like Matisse Thybulle, Herb Jones, and Lonzo Ball, discussing how they could address the team’s defensive needs and ball-handling concerns.

Tune in for expert insights on the Rockets’ offseason strategy and how it could reshape their roster for the upcoming NBA season.

#Rockets #NBA #CamWhitmore

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