4 players facing roster cuts for Rockets' final spot

1. Jeremiah Robinson-Earl

In many respects, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl was simply a throw-in in the Kevin Porter Jr. for Victor Oladipo swap. In other words, the Oklahoma City Thunder were likely going to release Robinson-Earl and decided to ship him to Houston instead, as it basically all counts the same for them.

JRE is also likely not going to find much playing time in Houston, as the Rockets signed Jock Landale and Jeff Green as reserve big men. And while Jeff Green is a little long in the tooth, he's a veteran presence in the locker room and he's an NBA champion- two points of emphasis for Ime Udoka this summer.

JRE's value is as a stretch-five but his 3-point efficiency raises doubt regarding his ability to be that, as he made just 33 percent of his threes last season. Granted, JRE suffered an ankle injury last season, which led to a steep regression in his play last season, in comparison to his rookie season. 

Which is another concern, as we don't know where he is physically. In other words, we don't know whether or not he'll be able to return to the switchable defender that he was as a rookie. 

The Rockets are likely to canvas the league and gauge whether there's any interest around the league in JRE, in hopes of landing a second-round pick, much like OKC did.

If they aren't able to do that, they'd likely make him their final cut.