If the Houston Rockets can’t lure a former Brooklyn Nets star to the Lone Star State, then they can swing by trying to pursue another superstar.
The Rockets made no secret of their desire to bring James Harden back to Houston, however latest reports indicate He is torn between staying with the Philadelphia 76ers and returning to the city where he has played most of his career.
And according to Mark Stein NBA insidera potential Plan B for missiles could be interesting.
Houston will have $59 million in cap space this offseason and the Rockets can use that to try and add mercurial NBA star Kyrie Irving to the fold if they miss Harden.
The Rockets were a team that was “increasingly cited” as a team that could go after Irving, Stein wrote in his recent newsletter.
The only concrete team with an interest in signing Irving was the Dallas Mavericks.
The Nets traded Irving with Dallas over the February NBA trade deadline after being asked to trade Kings County.
His departure facilitated the rapid end of Brooklyn’s era of stardom.
Ironically, it was Harden’s desire to leave Brooklyn a year earlier that began the end of a Nets team that at one point boasted of Harden, Irving, and Kevin Durant.
The Rockets have been linked to a few other players aside from potential interest in Irving.
Stein mentioned names like Fred VanVleet from Toronto, Nets banned agent Cam Johnson, and Memphis’ Dillon Brooks and Khris Middleton and Brooke Lopez from Milwaukee.
However, Irving is still somewhat surprising given the reputation he has and the fact that the Rockets already have guards Kevin Porter Jr. and Galen Green.
Irving remains one of the best players in his position in the game.
Between the Nets and Mavericks last season, he scored 27.1 points per game and 5.5 assists.
While the Rockets have plenty of salary cap room, it would also be hard to imagine Houston convincing both Harden and Irving to team up to play for each other again after the way things ended up in Brooklyn.
While the reunion between Harden and the Rockets has gotten a little less certain from reports that he was torn on what to do, odds are still good that he’ll end up with the Rockets – although the Suns have been floated as a party possibility. interested.
As for Irving’s future, it has been reported before Shams Al-Shaarani Sports Last week he reached out to LeBron James to see if he would join him in Dallas.
James and Irving have been linked since last season as things with the Nets started to sour.
