Rockets Rumors: Derrick Favors to Be Waived Ahead of Regular Season
October 14, 2022
The Houston Rockets plan to waive forward Derrick Favors, per Shams Charania of Stadium and The Athletic, who noted that the team needed to make a move to get down to 15 guaranteed roster spots.
Favors, 31, has played in the NBA for 12 seasons. He averaged 5.3 points and 4.7 rebounds in 16.7 minutes per game for the Oklahoma City Thunder last year. For his career, the ex-Georgia Tech star has posted 10.6 points and 7.1 boards a game.
OKC traded Favors to the Rockets as part of an eight-player deal in late September, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
"Cap-centric deal for both teams: Thunder gain two trade exceptions and drop about $10M under luxury tax," Wojnarowski added.
"Rockets get a second-round pick for taking on $1M in salary. Favors will have value as a backup center, or elsewhere on a trade in marketplace too."
Favors will now be available after the Rockets' reported plans. As far as the Rockets' cap situation goes post-move, Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype provided a look.
Yossi Gozlan @YossiGozlanThe Rockets will have $62.2M in dead money after waiving Derrick Favors. Just $11.4M less than their active salaries combined.<br><br>For as long as I’ve been following the cap (not very long) this is the most dead money a team has accrued. The 2018-19 Knicks previously had $60.5M. <a href="https://t.co/N7X1oX8o85">https://t.co/N7X1oX8o85</a>
Favors had a guaranteed base salary of $10,183,300 for the 2022-23 season, per Spotrac. He exercised his player option for the 2022-23 season last May.