This might have been an under-the-radar, barely noticed trade on the NBA landscape, one more about moving picks and bench players around than anything, were it not for the headline name involved.
The Oklahoma City Thunder reportedly will trade for Kevin Porter Jr. from the Houston Rockets — a player away from the team following a felony domestic violence arrest — and will waive him immediately. The Thunder also will get two second-round picks from the Rockets and will send out Victor Oladipo and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl to Houston (helping solve a roster crunch for the Thunder). Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN broke the news and made it clear OKC was not keeping Porter Jr. around, he was salary ballast to get the trade done.
Essentially, the deal allows the Thunder to gather up draft assets and requires them to pay the $16.9 million of guaranteed salary left on Porter’s new four-year contract — and saves the Rockets $5.5 million in salary.
The Thunder just paid for two more second-round picks — they already had 19 before 2030 — plus it clears up a roster crunch they faced. After this trade, the Thunder have 13 guaranteed contracts and three partially guaranteed ones, leaving them just one player to cut. The Thunder can say this is just a basketball trade and avoid the ugly optics by waiving Porter Jr.
Porter’s NBA career is likely over — or at least on hold for a long time — following his recent domestic violence arrest.
Porter is facing two felony assault charges — second-degree strangulation and third-degree assault — related to an attack on his girlfriend, former WNBA player Kysre Gondrezick, at a New York hotel on Sept. 11. According to the criminal complaint, Porter punched Gondrezick with a closed fist multiple times then put his hands around her neck to strangle her. A bloody Gondrezick eventually escaped, ran into the hallway and found hotel security.
With Porter soon waived and out of the league, the NBA will not be able to discipline him (unless or until he returns at some point). This was not the first disciplinary issue for Porter, 23, including being suspended for contact with a referee, and arrested in 2021 on firearm and marijuana charges. Porter had re-signed with Houston over the summer after averaging 19.2 points and 5.7 assists a game last season, but only the first year of that deal was fully guaranteed.
