The Houston Rockets are sniffing around the NBA, currently looking for trade partners with the goal of freeing themselves of the massive salary they still owe to forward Ryan Anderson. To that end, they’ve shown willingness to take on other big contracts from other teams that are slightly cheaper than Anderson’s just to carve out some extra space on their salary cap. This brings us to Cleveland Cavaliers outsider sniper, J.R. Smith.
According to Zach Lowe of ESPN, the Rockets have flirted with the idea of trading for Smith (h/t Tomer Azarly of ClutchPoints).
Smith only has two more years left on his current deal, the same length of the remaining life of Anderson’s contract. However, Smith stands to earn just $30.4 million that span or $10 million lower than what Anderson will make over the next two seasons. Anderson is due to be paid $20.42 million in 2018-19 and $21.26 million more in 2020-21.
Assuming the Rockets would pull off such a trade, J.R. Smith will join a trigger-happy team when it comes to shooting 3-pointers, a seemingly fit system for the 32-year-old guard’s style of play. Last season, Smith averaged 8.3 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game in 80 games played. It would be a bit tricky to see which between him and Eric Gordon would start, as the latter is most effective when coming off the bench.