Everything you need to know about the Rockets’ salary cap and draft pick situations.
The Dream Shake is not just a community of Rockets fans, it’s a community of NBA geeks. And right now there are few places better to get your NBA offseason salary cap geek on than Salary Swish.
As part of a new partnership with SB Nation, you can now dive into SalarySwish and use their data to attempt to answer every single question you could possibly have about the Rockets’ financial situation (and other team-building considerations). You’ll see not just the current situation for the Rockets, but also permutations of signing players eligible for extension such as Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun.
Below is an attempt at an updating, living and breathing document answering every query you could possibly have on that front, with updates and context as the team moves forward. So bookmark this page for all the latest changes as the team moves forward!
Rockets Roster, Salaries, Draft Picks, Cap Space and More
Here is a table with all of the Rockets salary information, again courtesy of our friends at SalarySwish:
Now, because that is a lot of data, let’s dive into a few key pieces of context and what it means, and try to answer any questions it may raise for you.
Rockets Salary Structure Pre-Draft 2024
Well, the years of taking bad deals to free up room paid off last season, with the signings of Fred Van Vleet and Dillon Brooks. The Rockets have very little dead weight on the roster and in terms of guaranteed salary.
I’m not a Certified NBA Capologist, and I know some of you are. If I’ve explained something incorrectly, or awkwardly, let me know, and by no means do you blame SalarySwish, without which I’d make a real hash of this.
The NBA salary cap is set at $141 million for 2024-25, and the Rockets current salary structure is set at right at $145 million in terms of cap hits.
Those aren’t the final word on moves that can be made, but right now this situation puts the Rockets at about $4.3 million over the cap. That might sound bad, but the Rockets currently stand dead last in NBA cap hits, and committed salary.
The Rockets stand to have only $109 million in guaranteed salary in 2024-25. This is very, very, low. That number goes up by $12.6 million with Steven Adams playing, and leaving the Disabled Player Exception slot. Adams brings committed money to roughly $122 million.
The Rockets currently have cap holds of around $6.3 million for unrestricted free agents Reggie Bullock, Aaron Holiday and Boban Marjanovic, but those aren’t guaranteed deals. They also have about $5.6 million in the form of restricted free agent cap holds, in the form of Nate Hinton, Nate Williams and Jermaine Samuels, also not guaranteed, all with equal salaries.
I’d be shocked if the Rockets brought all those players back, as they’re adding Adams to the payroll, and also almost certainly a first round pick of some sort, and maybe a second-rounder.
Let’s say the Rockets bring back one Nate of your choice, and Jermaine Samuels. Their salaries are all the same, so that adds $3.8 million.
Let’s say they also keep Aaron Holiday at his current number of $2.1 million.
Now they’re up to $128 million, but they have decisions to make about Jock Landale, Jeff Green and Jae’Sean Tate. Landale and Green are at $8 million each, and Tate around $7. Keeping all three is $26 million.
For various reasons, the Rockets can do all this, without triggering any real problems or luxury tax.
Now, the Rockets do have to fill out their roster, but this situation is good. They can get under the cap easily, if they choose, by simply not re-signing the three unrestricted free agents or signing them as veteran minimum players or two-way players, who all operate differently under the cap.
If the Rockets for some reason renounced all players who are free agents or on whom they possessed options, they could get about $31 million in salary space (this isn’t counting Adams), so call it $18 million. They’d have to fill in the roster with a bunch of minimum signings, and exceptions, but it could be done, or even with Adams, and by trading Brooks, they could get up to around $40 million.
Salary Exceptions
The Rockets currently can operate as an under-the-cap team, due to, I believe, cap holds necessary to get under the cap being non-guaranteed salary, and also because they are not in the luxury tax. The exceptions allow the Rockets to exceed the cap without triggering luxury tax.
First, the Rockets would get a rookie scale exception, which allows them to sign their first round picks to rookie scale contracts appropriate to the draftees’ selection spot.
Second, they can access the Mid-Level Room Exception, which currently offers an annual salary of approximately $12.8 million, to sign free agents to deals up to three years. These can be their own free agents, or others, and it can be applied to one or more players.
Third, they can make signings using the bi-annual exception of roughly $4.7 million per season.
Current Picks
Here is where we’ll keep an updating list of picks the Rockets have.
2024
- 1-3 (BKN – Reed Sheppard)
- 2-44 (Warriors) Traded to ATL for AJ Griffin*
2025
- 2025 1st round pick (HOU) [Swap Option] **Swap Option Details: HOU has the option to swap 2025 1st RD HOU/OKC pick for PHX
- Thunder, Grizzly second round picks
2026
- Nets first round pick
- Rockets first round pick, only if between 1-1 to 1-4, otherwise conveys to OKC
- 76ers, Mavericks second round picks
2027
- 1st round pick (PHX) or own first-round pick Pick
- (Yes, the Westbrook trade finally dies in 2027.)
- Rockets, Grizzlies and Timberwolves second round picks
2028
- Rockets First Round Pick
- (No More Harden Trade To Nets Stuff)
- Bucks second round pick
2029
- Rockets first round pick
- 2029 1st round pick (DAL) [Conditional]
- Rockets second round pick
2030
- Rockets first round pick
- Rockets second round pick
Trades – 2024 Draft Day Forward
- 2024 Draft Day Trades (Day Two) – Rockets trade 2024, 2-44 pick to Atlanta for AJ Griffin (1-16 ATL – 2022 NBA Draft)
If you found this page useful, please bookmark it and/or share, and if you have any questions or information you’d like to see included, let us know in the comments below! We plan to keep this page updated with the latest information from SalarySwish as events occur.