In what is essentially a salary dump for Houston — of a player they spent to get just a year ago — the Rockets are sending Dorian Finney-Smith and three second-round picks to the Charlotte Hornets, reports Shams Charania of ESPN.
The second-round picks are Memphis’ 2027 pick and Houston’s 2028 and 2033 picks, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN.
Houston recruited and signed Finney-Smith last summer to a four-year, $53 million deal. But then Smith, 33 and a 10-year NBA veteran, missed time at the start of the season while recovering from ankle surgery and was never himself, playing in 37 games and averaging 3.3 points per night when he did get in. Finney-Smith is owed $13.3 million for each of the next three seasons (the last is a player option).
For Houston, this is about opening up a roster spot and saving some salary space after agreeing to deals with Marcus Smart and Bogdan Bogdanovic (who will largely play Finney-Smith’s role for the Rockets), then re-signing Tari Eason. Houston was starting to get within striking distance of the dreaded second apron of the luxury tax, now they are not close.
It’s unclear if Charlotte plans to keep Finney-Smith. With this deal, the team has 17 players on standard contracts, so a couple need to be let go or moved before the season starts.
Charlotte now has 20 second-rounders over the next seven years, a lot of trade value there going forward. The Hornets have a trade exception they can use to make this trade and remain more than $30 million below the luxury tax line.
