In September, Houston Rockets guard Kevin Porter Jr. was arrested for the alleged assault and strangulation of his girlfriend in a New York City hotel. In the month since, Porter Jr. has not been with the team as they’ve looked to trade him in order to avoid waiving him for nothing and paying the $16.9 million in guarantees remaining on his deal, but unsurprisingly no teams around the NBA have any interest in Porter Jr. as he awaits trial for domestic assault.
On Tuesday, the Rockets found a trade partner in the Oklahoma City Thunder that allows OKC to get out of some of its roster crunch while acquiring two more second round picks in their never-ending quest to bring in every possible draft asset. According to Adrian Wojnarowski, the Thunder will send Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Victor Oladipo to Houston, with Porter Jr. being immediately waived by the Thunder once the trade goes through.
ESPN Sources: The Houston Rockets are trading G Kevin Porter Jr., and two future second-round picks to the Oklahoma City Thunder — who are waiving Porter Jr., immediately. Thunder are sending the Rockets Victor Oladipo and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl in the transaction. pic.twitter.com/PBaHA0f5lW
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 17, 2023
The Thunder are acquiring a 2027 second via Minnesota and a 2028 second via Milwaukee in the deal, sources said. Porter Jr., is facing assault charges based on an incident with a girlfriend. OKC is essentially buying the two picks and releasing Porter Jr.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 17, 2023
While the Thunder certainly don’t need more second round picks (this brings their total to 22 over the next seven years), they had far too many players on their roster and were going to have to make cuts next week anyways. By moving Robinson-Earl and Oladipo to Houston for essentially just picks in return as Porter Jr. is an easy decision to waive even with guaranteed money left on his deal, they clear up some of their overcrowded roster, even with a couple more cuts needed to get to 15 guaranteed contracts.