14 players have a total salary of 194.3 million! The Rockets have no hope of signing a player? There is only 1.6 million space left, and the lineup is basically finalized

In recent times, the Rockets not only got Durant and Capela in the trade, but also signed Finney Smith directly. The Rockets also renewed the contract with several veterans in the team, such as Van Vreet, Adams, Jeff Green, etc. In this case, the Rockets currently have 14 players holding standard NBA contracts. Of course, there are players with two-way contracts, such as Kevin Harris, etc., which doesn't forget it.

Currently, the total salary of the 14 Rockets players who hold formal NBA contracts has reached $194.3 million, of which Durant alone has more than 50 million, and Shen Jing's annual salary next season will also reach more than 30 million US dollars. In addition to Van Vreet's salary of 25 million, the Rockets' salary space is really tight. Moreover, the Rockets' four players, Smith, Ethan, Shepard and Amen Thompson, are all holding rookie contracts. It is impossible to imagine what the Rockets' salary space will expand when these players really need to renew their contracts.

Fortunately, many players of the Rockets took the initiative to cut their salaries this summer, such as three veterans with basic salary, Jeff Green, Tate and Aaron Holiday, and even Van Vreet, who directly cut their salaries by $20 million, which ensures that the Rockets have enough salary space to trade and sign contracts. But now the Rockets' 14-man lineup has basically been finalized, and there is basically no hope for them to continue to introduce players unless they can clear up some salary space.

Although the Rockets traded Whitmore and sacked center Landale, according to statistics, the Rockets are still $1.6 million away from the first hard salary cap, while the first hard salary cap is $195.9 million, and the Rockets only have 1.6 million salary space left. If another basic salary player is signed, the Rockets will be directly exposed to the first hard hat and will pay more luxury taxes, so it will be difficult for the Rockets to sign new players now.

But the Rockets will definitely have a chance to trade and strengthen their backcourt, otherwise, the Rockets will take their current lineup to compete in next season's game. Of course, in next season's game, the Rockets still have the opportunity to continue trading and signing. Of course, that happened a few months later. Judging from the current situation, it is estimated that the team's salary space has basically been locked.

In fact, the Rockets now have 14 players with formal contracts that are completely enough to play next season. After all, only 9 to 10 players are used for rotation in each game. In the playoffs, coach Uduka has reduced the Rockets' rotation player list to 8 players. Currently, the Rockets have 14 standard contract players, plus two-way contract players like Kevin Harris and Dante. The Rockets are enough to form a very strong lineup to compete with any team without losing.

Of course, the Rockets can also lay off their non-guaranteed contract player - guard Nate Williams. In this way, the Rockets can free up nearly 2.3 million in salary space and theoretically sign another basic salary player. But from now on, although the Rockets' backcourt is too small, players like Amen Thompson, Tate, and even Durant can serve as defenders, so it seems that the Rockets' backcourt is insufficient, but in fact, the Rockets have many versatile players who can compete in the defender position, and Stone and Uduka don't need to worry at all.