5 Rockets who are expendable, 2 they can't afford to trade
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Honorable Mention
It doesn’t seem necessary to throw Victor Oladipo on this list, as it’s obvious he will be traded. Oladipo was acquired for this purpose.
Oladipo’s $9.5 million expiring salary will be pivotal for the Rockets from a salary filler standpoint. It’s unknown whether the 31-year-old will actually take the court this season, as he suffered a gruesome torn patellar injury on his left knee during the opening round of the 2023 playoffs.
A healthy Oladipo is capable of providing a scoring punch off the bench, as evidenced by his 2022-23 campaign with the Miami Heat, in which he averaged 10.7 points In 26.3 minutes of action. Oladipo provided value in the 2021-22 season also, posting averages of 12.4 points, 47.9 percent from the field, and a career-best 41.7 percent from long-range, albeit in a small sample size of just eight games.
The Heat could use a healthy version of Oladipo and the Los Angeles Lakers could also, so there would be a trade market for him, if healthy. But in all actuality, his biggest value is likely as salary-filler, allowing a team to get rid of long-term salary.