Houston Rockets agree to trade Kevin Porter Jr. and draft picks to Thunder

TRADE ALERT

Houston Rockets agree to trade Kevin Porter Jr. and draft picks to Thunder
Kevin Porter Jr. is being traded to the Thunder. Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting that the Houston Rockets and the Oklahoma City Thunder have a trade in place.

Due to Kevin Porter Jr.'s legal issues, Houston is trading Porter Jr. and two future second round picks (2027 2nd-round pick via Timberwolves/2028 second-round pick via Bucks) to the Thunder for guard Victor Oladipo and power forward/center Jeremiah Robinson-Earl.

Per Woj:

Essentially the deal allows the Thunder to gather up draft assets and requires them to pay the $16.9 million of guaranteed salary left on Porter's new four-year contract -- and saves the Rockets $5.5 million in salary.


For Houston, Oladipo is a familiar face as he played in 20 games for the Rockets during the 2020-2021 season. He played 50 games for the Heat last year, scoring just under 11 points per game.

Robinson-Earl is heading into his 3rd season in the league, playing his first two seasons with the Thunder. He played in 43 games last season, scoring 6.8/PPG.



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Kikuchi does it again! Photo by Jack Gorman/Getty Images.

Yusei Kikuchi pitched seven innings of three-hit ball in another sharp start, and Yordan Alvarez homered and drove in two runs in the Houston Astros ' 5,000th victory, 5-3 over the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night.

Alex Bregman hit an early two-run homer and Alvarez added his 33rd in the ninth inning for the first-place Astros, who opened a six-game Southern California trip with their second straight win after a three-game skid.

Mickey Moniak homered for the Angels, who have lost five of six.

Kikuchi (9-9) overcame early trouble and struck out six Angels while keeping the Astros unbeaten in all of his starts since joining Houston in a trade with Toronto. Kikuchi is 5-0 in an Astros uniform, and Houston is 8-0 when he takes the mound.

Josh Hader pitched the ninth for his 30th save as the Astros became the 18th big league club to reach 5,000 victories.

Rookie Samuel Aldegheri (1-2) couldn’t get out of the third inning in his third major league start for the Angels, yielding four runs on six hits and five walks while recording only six outs.

Houston scored twice in the second with two singles followed by two walks and Alvarez's sacrifice fly.

The Astros then got three hits on Aldegheri's first three pitches in the third inning. After Kyle Tucker singled, Bregman hit his 23rd homer and Jeremy Peña doubled.

Kikuchi issued back-to-back walks to begin the third, and Los Angeles scored on Zach Neto's groundout and Nolan Schanuel's single.

Moniak's solo shot to right in the fourth was just his second career homer against a left-hander. It was also the former No. 1 overall pick's 14th homer of the season, matching his career high.

Alvarez's homer was a line drive that went in and out of Moniak's glove when the center fielder leaped at the wall to attempt what would have been a spectacular catch.

Hader recorded 30 saves for the fourth consecutive season and the fifth time in his career.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Astros: INF Jose Altuve returned from a one-game absence with discomfort in his right side. He drove the first pitch of the game into left field, but was easily thrown out at second while trying to stretch it into a double.

Angels: 2B Brandon Drury sat out after leaving Wednesday's game in the fifth inning with hamstring tightness. ... RHP Ben Joyce is still awaiting the results of his MRI exam Thursday. The 105-mph hurler hasn't pitched since Sept. 6 after reporting shoulder discomfort.

UP NEXT

Justin Verlander (3-6, 5.30 ERA) takes the mound for Houston after struggling in his past two starts in September. Los Angeles sends out All-Star Tyler Anderson (10-12, 3.50 ERA), who beat the Astros earlier this year for his only victory in nine career starts against them.

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