Content warning: This story contains details about alleged domestic violence. The content may be difficult to read and emotionally upsetting.
The Houston Rockets are working to trade guard Kevin Porter Jr. in the wake of his charges of felony assault and strangulation due to an alleged attack on his girlfriend, league sources tell The Athletic.
Those sources say the Rockets have contacted multiple teams offering draft compensation as incentive to receive Porter, who has the 2023-24 season guaranteed for $15.9 million in Year 1 of a four-year, $82.5 million deal. In deal scenarios using Porter’s contract, the Rockets would be using his salary to target a player under contract who can play immediately and help the team, league sources said.
The Rockets are keeping all options open with the future of Porter, a league source said.
With Houston’s biggest offseason acquisitions in place, signing Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks in free agency and drafting Amen Thompson with the No. 4 pick in June’s draft, the Rockets are attempting to be far more competitive next season.
The NBA launched an investigation into Porter following an alleged incident Monday at a New York City hotel where his girlfriend suffered a fractured neck vertebra and a cut above her right eye.
Porter was released Tuesday on $75,000 bail and is due back in court in Manhattan on Oct. 16.
The guard is not expected to attend Rockets’ training camp in early October, league sources say.
“The allegations here are horrific,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Wednesday. “No question about it. But I don’t know anything more about the actual facts other than those allegations.
“We’re still now in the process of gathering information.”
(Photo: Ron Chenoy / USA Today)
