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After another disappointing playoff loss to the Golden State Warriors, Houston's front office, led by general manager Daryl Morey. chose to attack this summer the way they've attacked many summers: ultra aggressive. After hinting at it a couple of weeks ago, the Rockets have made it clear to everybody in the league that they will indeed be in the market for Philadelphia 76ers free agent Jimmy Butler. This isn't a surprise to anyone who's played close attention to this team over the past decade, but it's definitely a bold direction to go in after the Western Conference has seemingly become wide-open after devastating injuries to Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson.
However, publicly the Rockets have maintained that they will likely bring their starting five back with the addition of a strong role player through the use of their $5.7 million taxpayer mid-level exception.
"We're very confident going into next season," said Morey on The Dan Patrick Show two weeks ago. "Most contenders are scrambling to keep their five starters or put together their five starters. We've got our five starters that were the best team in the league down the stretch. We're going to add a mid-level (free agent) that's going to get us to six. That's worse case (scenario)."
So let's assume worst case scenario that the Rockets don't acquire Jimmy Butler. What kind of player can they realistically fetch with their taxpayer mid-level exception?
1. Danny Green
Danny Green has been one of the best perimeter defenders in the league of the past half decade. At 32-years-old, Green has taken a small step back over the past couple seasons. However, at 6'6" with a 6'10" wingspan, Green is still a really good defender who played a key role in two of the last six NBA champions (Spurs in 2014, Raptors in 2019). Green is also an excellent shooter (career 40.4% from three-point range) and could slot right into Houston's starting unit if the Rockets elect to move Eric Gordon back to the bench.
Normally, a player like Green would be demanding around $10-12 million in this market and out of Houston's price range, but the Rockets remain hopeful that they can land him. according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. It will be tough to pry Green from the defending champion Toronto Raptors and take an undermarket deal, but undermarket deals are what Houston's known for.
2. JaMychal Green
JaMychal Green is someone the Rockets targeted at the trade deadline along with the next player on this list, Garrett Temple. The Grizzlies prioritized finding deals for Marc Gasol and Mike Conley and the Rockets had to move fast, so they opted to trade for Iman Shumpert instead. Green is a huge wing, 6'9" with a 7'3" wingspan - perfectly capable of playing and defending multiple positions. Though Green has been a slightly above average shooter for his career (36.9% from three-point range), he's shot nearly 40% from three-point range over the past three seasons.
The Clippers acquired Green with his bird-rights last season, making it really hard for a team like Houston to acquire him for the taxpayer mid-level exception. However, there's a chance the Rockets can offer a bigger role for Green than Los Angeles can. Houston's starting position may be tempting enough to sway Green.
3. Garrett Temple
Temple is another guy the Rockets targeted at the deadline, but were unsuccessful rebuffed by the Grizzlies. Temple is 6'6" with a giant wingspan of his own and he's used it successfully throughout his NBA career to be an effective perimeter defender. Temple is an average shooter (35.3% from 3-PT range), but it's his defensive versatility as a big guard who can defend forwards that would make him a preferred target for Houston.
4. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
The Rockets have had interest in Caldwell-Pope for some time now and tried to acquire him via trade earlier this year. Caldwell-Pope has caught a bad reputation because of his contract size and his agency (Klutch Sports), but he's a legitimately capable defender for a team that's been looking for someone who can defend quick guards for the past couple years. It's one of the reasons the Rockets drafted De'Anthony Melton last summer.
5. DeMarre Carroll
Carroll was briefly a Houston Rocket in 2011, but has come into his own as a player over the past decade as a solid perimeter defender who can capably shoot open three-pointers. Carroll has been thought of as a bad contract over the past couple years due to the four-year, $60 million deal he signed with the Raptors in 2015. However, at the taxpayer mid-level exception, you could do much worse than Carroll.
*Honorable mentions: Al-Farouq Aminu, Kevon Looney, Wesley Matthews, J.J. Reddick, and DeAndre Jordan.
*Nof listed because most of these free agents will be out of Houston's price range.
It's not the end of the world if the Rockets strike out on Butler, as there are a number of quality free agents on the market and many that didn't make this list. Houston could still come out of the summer of 2019 as a significantly better basketball team by just using the tools they have on-hand. It will be interesting to see who they come out of the fray with.
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Feb 17, 2025, 4:38 pm
Alex Bregman couldn’t hold back the smile when he was asked who might have had the biggest impact on his decision to sign with the Boston Red Sox.
“My favorite player Dustin Pedroia,” Bregman said of the club's former second baseman and two-time World Series champion.
“He reached out a few times this offseason and talked about how special it was to be a part of the Boston Red Sox,” Bregman said Sunday. “It was really cool to be able to talk to him as well as so many other former players here in Boston and current players on the team as well.”
A day after Bregman's $120 million, three-year contract was announced, he sat at a 25-minute news conference between his agent, Scott Boras, and Boston Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow. Manager Alex Cora, who gave Bregman a hug after he handed the infielder his No. 2 jersey, also was at the table along with team president Sam Kennedy.
Breslow and Cora wouldn't say whether Bregman would move to play second base, Pedroia's position, or remain at third — a position manned by Rafael Devers since July 2017.
A few players, Jarren Duran and Rob Refsnyder among them, and coaches stood behind the seated reporters to listen.
Bregman gets a $5 million signing bonus, a $35 million salary this season and $40 million in each of the following two years, with some of the money deferred, and he can opt out after the 2025 and 2026 seasons to become a free agent again.
Asked why he agreed to the shorter contract with opt outs, he leaned forward to the microphone in front of him and replied: “I just think I believe in my abilities.”
Originally selected by Boston in the 29th round of the 2012 amateur draft, Bregman attended LSU before the Houston Astros picked him second overall in 2015. His family history with the Red Sox goes back further.
“My dad grew up sitting on Ted Williams’ lap,” he said.
MLB.com said Stan Bregman, the player's grandfather, was a lawyer who represented the Washington Senators and negotiated Williams' deal to become manager.
Boston has missed the playoffs in five of the last six seasons and had avoided signing the highest-profile free agents. Boras said a conversation with Red Sox controlling owner John Henry showed ownership’s desire to get back to winning.
“I think it was after Soto signed,’’ Boras said, citing the record contract he negotiated for Juan Soto with the Mets. “We had a discussion. I could tell knowing John back with the Marlins and such, he had a real onus about ‘we need to do things differently than what we’ve done before.’
“This is a point and time where I believe Red Sox ownership was hungry for championship play and exhausted with what had happened the last five, six years.”
Called the “perfect fit” by Breslow, the 30-year-old Bregman joined the Red Sox after winning two World Series titles and reaching the playoffs in eight consecutive seasons with Houston.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to be in the playoffs the first eight years of my career, and I plan on continuing to do that here,” he said in his opening remarks. “I’m a winning player and this is a winning organization.”
Coming off an 81-81 season, the Red Sox acquired left-hander Garrett Crochet from the White Sox and signed fellow pitchers Walker Buehler, Patrick Sandoval, Aroldis Chapman and Justin Wilson during the offseason.
After the pitching moves, they found a right-handed bat, too.
“As the offseason progressed it just became clearer and clearer that Alex was the perfect fit for what we were trying to accomplish,” Breslow said.
Bregman ranks first among players with at least 75 career plate appearances in Fenway Park with an OPS of 1.240.
“He fits like a glove for our organization,” Kennedy said.