Rockets Trade Rumors: Chinanu Onuaku Dealt to Mavericks Along with Cash

The Houston Rockets have agreed to trade center Chinanu Onuaku and cash to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for a 2020 second-round swap of draft picks.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported news of the deal.

Onuaku, 21, has appeared in just six regular-season games since Houston drafted him in the second round in 2016.

The move amounts to a salary dump for the Rockets, who owed Onuaku $1.5 million for 2018-19. Houston will save about $3.9 million in luxury tax payments, per Albert Nahmad. It's unclear how much cash the Rockets are sending Dallas' way, but it would not be a surprise if the Rockets footed the entire $1.5 million bill.

There is also a little bit of neat symmetry here because Carmelo Anthony is on the verge of signing a one-year, $2.4 million deal with the Rockets, according to Wojnarowski. Add the $1.5 million to the $2.4 million and it's a tidy $3.9 million, though that does not account for Melo's luxury-tax hit.

The Mavericks now have 15 players on their roster who have guaranteed money on their contract, not counting Dorian Finney-Smith, who has been on the roster the last two years. Onuaku will likely head into camp competing for one of the last roster spots; the Mavericks could probably waive him without incurring much in the way of financial strain.

Salah Mejri and DeAndre Jordan are the only other centers on the roster.