Ric Bucher says Tilman Fertitta, Rockets having financial issues

Are the Rockets in as bad shape as Bucher depicts?

We previously wrote about how Bucher stated that the Rockets would be forced to ship away a “key piece”, namely Russell Westbrook, due to their lack of young talent and their hefty payroll. These particular comments took place in a subsequent interview, which adds more intrigue.

Bucher is doubling down and re-confirming those previous claims, although he did add the key line “if what I’m hearing about their financial situation is accurate,” which casts a level of doubt and skepticism into his words. But Bucher has been the only reporter who has discussed the Rockets’ finances since NBA commissioner Adam Silver announced the league was returning, which can be interpreted a number of different ways.

Bucher mentioned how Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta inherited Daryl Morey, but didn’t go into detail behind why he brought that up. If this was mentioned to imply any sort of looming change in the front office, this would be rather easy to refute, as Fertitta recently voiced his support for Morey.

In fact, Fertitta went so far as to say that he would allow Morey to solely make the decision on looming free agent head coach Mike D’Antoni’s future with the team.

This is not to say Fertitta and the Rockets aren’t necessarily dealing with financial struggles, because every team has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the loss of profits and revenue, so that wouldn’t just be the Rockets. But if the Rockets were in as dire of a financial situation as Bucher is depicting to where they’d have to get rid of a top-ten player, wouldn’t there be other local sources saying the same thing?

The local media oftentimes has a bigger pulse than the national media, and especially in a city like Houston, which has the eight-largest media market in the country. It’s unknown where Bucher is getting this information from, but there’s at least reason for skepticism.