Report: Houston Rockets ‘Aggressively Pursuing’ Trade

The Houston Rockets are doing everything in their power to use their $8.4 million trade exception before December 19th, according to Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski.

This exception would allow the team to go over the salary cap to acquire another marquee player, even though they’re currently $3.8 million over the league standard of $63.1 million.

Houston acquired the trade exception from the Los Angeles Lakers in July, as part of the Jeremy Lin trade. They’ve reportedly told teams they’re treating December 19th as their trade deadline, even though the exception is eligible anytime before February 19th.

It is believed the Rockets want a deal completed before the 19th, so they have the possibility of moving whichever player they acquire. In order to do so, they would have to wait at least 60 days after the trade to be eligible to ship out the player once again.

With Terrence Jones out indefinitely, the Rockets could use an upgrade at the power forward position, since Donatas Montiejunas and Tarik Black are their only legitimate options.

It will be tough for Houston to find a guy capable of starting right away, but they could still try to acquire a low risk player on a 1-year deal that matches up salary wise.