Assessing the Rockets’ salary cap situation this offseason

The Houston Rockets didn’t make any big moves this offseason, but they have the ability to do so. The organization brought back Aaron Holiday, Nate Hinton, Jermaine Samuels and Jeenathan Williams for a combined $13.6 million over five years. With minimal moves, there’s still room to make a splash.

What is the Rockets’ salary cap situation in the first year where the first and second aprons impact team rosters?

The new collective bargaining agreement went into effect this offseason with the implementation of the first and second tiers. Teams that don’t pay taxes will be fined, but teams that exceed the first or second tiers will receive penalties that will affect how organizations trade and build their rosters.

The first-tier penalties include: not being able to acquire a player via sign-and-trade if he then exceeds the first tier, salaries in trades must match 110% (down from 125% for teams that do not exceed the first tier), and not being able to sign a player waived from regular status if his salary was above the $12.2 million mid-level exception.

Penalties for the second deck include: no cash can be included in trades, first-round picks in seven years are not tradable, no trade exceptions can be used from multiple player salaries, no previous trade exceptions can be used, and the last being that a team’s first-round pick is moved to the end of the round if it remains in the second deck for three of the five seasons.

For the Rockets, this works in their favor because they’ve given away just over $168 million in salary, and that’s after signing rookie Reed Sheppard. They have about $11 million in cap space on the frontcourt and about $22 million on the backcourt, meaning they could still bring in a solid veteran or two to help them compete for the playoffs.

Notable free agents Houston could target while potentially staying under the first apron include Kyle Lowry, Luke Kennard and Evan Fournier. If the organization wanted to bring in an elite scorer to really make a push, DeMar DeRozan and Miles Bridges are still available, but their contracts would likely push Houston beyond the second apron.

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