5 Rockets who are expendable, 2 they can't afford to trade

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.