Content warning: This story contains details about alleged domestic violence. Content can be difficult to read and emotionally draining.
The Houston Rockets are working on a trade for guard Kevin Porter Jr. after his charges of felony assault and strangulation for allegedly attacking his girlfriend, according to league sources. The Athletic.
Those sources said the Rockets have contacted several teams offering draft compensation as an incentive to take on Porter, who has a 2023-24 season set at $15.9 million in Year 1 of a four-year, $82.5 million deal. , with three non-guaranteed years. In deal scenarios using Porter’s contract, the Rockets would use his salary to target a player under contract who could play immediately and help the team, league sources said.
The Rockets are keeping all options open on Porter’s future, a league source said.
With Houston’s biggest offseason acquisitions, signing Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks in free agency and drafting Amen Thompson at No. 4 pick in the June draft, the Rockets are trying to be more competitive next season.
The NBA launched an investigation into Porter after an alleged incident last Monday at a hotel in New York City where his girlfriend suffered a broken neck and a cut above her right eye.
Porter was released Tuesday on $75,000 bail and is due back in court in Manhattan on Oct. 16.
The guard is not expected to attend the Rockets’ training camp in early October, league sources said.
“The allegations here are horrific,” said NBA commissioner Adam Silver on Wednesday. “There is no question about it. But I don’t know anything else about the real facts other than the allegations.
“We are currently still in the process of gathering information.”
(Photo: Ron Chenoy / USA Today)