The Houston Rockets failed to hook a big fish this offseason after failing to sign a superstar, but NBA free agents rumors revealed that they will continue trying in the next several offseasons.
Marc Stein of ESPN reported that the Rockets will look to make a strong push to sign either Goran Dragic or Rajon Rondo next summer. And if they fail to sign either of the two, the Rockets will shift their focus on acquiring Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Kevin Durant.
Durant, who earned his first Most Valuable Player award last season, could become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2016 in case he declines to sign a contract extension with the Thunder.
Several big-market teams, including the Rockets, are expected to make a strong pitch to Durant, especially now that the salary cap is expected to rise significantly in 2016 after the league struck a $24-billion television deal with ESPN and TNT.
And to improve their chances of acquiring Durant, NBA free agents rumors sources told Stein that the Rockets will use James Harden as their lead recruiter, knowing that their superstar guard had a good relationship with his former teammate during their three-year partnership in Oklahoma City.
Rockets general manager Daryl Morey confirmed that they will continue making pitches to NBA superstars in the hope of bring another NBA title to Houston.
"We are always going to be swinging big," Morey said in an NBA free agents 2014 update. "We're only about trying to win championships and how to make that happen. We take big swings at things. Obviously, it worked out the last two summers, but the only way you can land a James Harden or a Dwight Howard is by taking big swings. Sometimes, you hit. Sometimes, you miss."
Acquiring Durant will force the Rockets to break the bank, though, as the superstar forward declared that he is expecting a big salary increase in 2016 brought by the new TV deal.
Durant said in an interview that all players should be compensated fairly starting in 2016, reiterating that owners have no right to say now that they are losing money after the league finalized a multi-billion dollar deal with ESPN and TNT on Monday.
"That's a lot of money," Durant said of the new TV deal via Sporting News. "I don't see how the owners can say they're losing money now."
