Former Rockets reunite in Philly
If the 2018-19 Rockets ever hold a reunion, they can make it easier to get a good turnout by holding it in Philadelphia.
They don’t even need to wait for someday, when waistlines are thicker, heads (and beards) are grayer, and old stories are embellished. They can gather at the Philadelphia 76ers training camp.
When the NBA’s annual free agency free-for-all began on Thursday, 76ers president Daryl Morey, long the general manager of the Rockets, moved quickly to get the old gang back together.
While other blockbusters filled the torrent of agreements that were made in the first minutes when talks were permitted to begin, with general managers and agents apparently talking extraordinarily rapidly through negotiations, Morey inspired nearly as many Philadelphia Rockets comments and memes.
Morey and James Harden quickly came to an agreement to reunite Harden with P.J. Tucker with the Sixers. That took Harden opting out of the final season of his contract, worth $47.1 million, and apparent willingness to agree to a deal that will start at about $10 million less.
The Sixers then brought in Danuel House Jr., who was a Rockets teammate of Harden’s and Tucker’s for parts of four seasons and was a free agent after playing for the Jazz last season.
Then if there were not enough familiar faces for Harden, House, Tucker and 76ers CEO Tad Brown, the longtime Rockets CEO, the 76ers agreed to sign Trevelin Queen, the MVP of the G League last season with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.
Queen only played 10 games with the Rockets, all after Harden, Tucker and House had moved on. But if counting players with Rockets ties that did not actually play with new Sixers teammates, Morey last week traded for former Rockets draft pick De’Anthony Melton, a 2018 Rockets secondround selection.
It is unclear when Morey will give Terrence Jones a call and coming up with a way to try again with Chris Paul seems a little far-fetched. But he would love to deal for Eric Gordon if he could find a way to structure a trade with a roster filled with contracts the Rockets would not want.
Morey’s expansion of his Rockets collection was an interesting sidelight to a night of interesting, sometimes stunning developments.
Bradley Beal locked up the largest new contract, agreeing to a five-year, $251 million deal to stick with the Wizards. Twotime MVP Nikola Jokic landed the largest extension, a five-year, $264 million supermax with the Nuggets that will be the largest contract in league history.
There were remarkable deals with players that rose from the second round or even undrafted status.
Jalen Brunson agreed to a four-year, $110 million deal to leave the Mavericks and join the Knicks, where his father is an assistant coach and his former agent, Leon Rose, is the team president. With former Rockets second-round pick Isaiah Hartenstein joining him along with holdovers Julius Randle and R.J. Barrett, the Knicks are one starter shy of an alllefty starting lineup.
Lu Dort’s deal to stay with the Thunder was nearly as remarkable, going from undrafted free agent to a five-year, $87.5 million contract.
After losing Brunson, the Mavericks made one of the more interesting moves, adding center JaVale McGee for $20.1 million over three years, adding a traditional 7footer to play next to Christian Wood, who as with the Mavericks as a whole has played better when playing without a traditional 7-footer.
The Bucks, a year removed from their championship, kept their team together, re-signing Bobby Portis, Wes Matthews and Javon Carter, while adding Joe Ingles.