The following is a list of 2016 free agent small forwards, which is an area the Houston Rockets have covered with Trevor Ariza and a bunch of youngsters who weren’t utilized last season.
Now that it appears the Houston Rockets will hire Mike D’Antoni it’s time for the team to buckle down and to figure out who they should pick in the upcoming draft and begin the work to target free agents. Though GM Daryl Morey will make the roster moves ideally he should be working with input from D’Antoni.
Further the style of play a head coach brings and his personal relationship with players can work for or against a club. Hence, it’s likely Dwight Howard will be gone, but given D’Antoni has literally quit on teams in the past there may be other players who don’t want to play for him again.
Space City Scoop has been focused on year end analysis and draft prospects as you’ve seen on the site. After the draft we’ll dig into the free agent market with vigor.
For now we wanted to give you a sneak peak of the available talent this summer. To that end SCS is bringing a full list of all free agents by position for this summer.
Next up are the small forwards, conceivably a position the Houston Rockets may trade current assets, so may need to fill those gaps or upgrade:
Small Forwards:
- Harrison Barnes, RFA, Warriors
- Matt Barnes, Grizzlies
- Nicolas Batum, Hornets
- Chase Budinger, Suns
- Kent Bazemore Hawks
- Caron Butler, PO, Kings
- Isaiah Canaan, RFA, 76ers
- Jordan Clarkson, RFA, Lakers
- Kevin Durant, Thunder
- Cleanthony Early, RFA, Knicks
- James Ennis, RFA, Pelicans
- Evan Fournier, RFA, Magic
- Alonzo Gee (P), Pelicans
- Jeff Green, Clippers
- P.J. Hairston, Grizzlies
- Jordan Hamilton, Pelicans
- Maurice Harkless, RFA, Blazers
- Solomon Hill, Pacers
- LeBron James, PO, Cavs
- Richard Jefferson, Cavs
- Joe Johnson, Heat
- Wesley Johnson, PO, Clippers
- James Jones, Cavs
- Sergey Karasev, Nets
- Mike Miller, Nuggets
- Chandler Parsons, PO, Mavs
- Tayshaun Prince, Timberwolves
- Damjan Rudez, TO, RFA, Timberwolves
- Lance Stephenson, TO, Grizzlies
- Garrett Temple, Wizards
- Derrick Williams, PO, Knicks
- Metta World Peace, Lakers
- Dorell Wright, Heat
Acronyms: PO = Player Option, TO = Team Option, RFA = Restricted Free Agent
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Of all the positions, this is the one with a horde of available talent and top talent at that in 2016. Obviously Kevin Durant is the franchise player available, but there are notable strong candidates like Batum, Barnes, Bazemore, Fournier and Parsons. And, there are solid reserve small forwards who can offer depth like Solomon Hill, Jeff Green and even Joe Johnson.
Again, with a glut of talent at small forward it’s unlikely the Rockets will earmark anyone other than Durant, but the team could move players at this position if they get the sense Durant is serious.
In the coming weeks following the wrap up of the SCS Draft Prospect Series the next major series the writers will tackle is Free Agents. Specifically the series will look at individuals and dive into which players make sense for the Houston Rockets to target, who might be a logical fit for a low end contract and which major free agents should receive the Rockets priority focus. For now, the above list provides the comprehensive picture.
Make sure you check out the current Space City Scoop series including our year end player analysis, draft prospects worthy of Rockets picking or trading for, our best of reader/fan posts and our end of season Rockets Round Table:
Next: Houston Rockets SCS Roundtable Part 1
Next: Houston Rockets SCS Roundtable Part 2
Next: Houston Rockets SCS Roundtable Part 3
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