Sports
NBA Rumors: Kevin Porter Jr. Traded to Thunder; Rockets Get Victor Oladipo, More – Bleacher Report
The Houston Rockets are trading Kevin Porter Jr. to the Oklahoma City Thunder, which will waive the 23-year-old immediately, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Houston is also sending two future second-round picks to Oklahoma City in the deal, Wojnarowski added. The Rockets will receive Victor Oladipo and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl as part of the trade.
The Thunder will pay the remaining $16.9 million left on Porter’s contract when they waive him.
Thunder will have to pay the $16.9M guaranteed left on Porter Jr., contract as they waive him. OKC gathered four second-round picks in acquiring and moving Oladipo's $9.5M expiring deal this offseason. OKC has 15 first-round and 22 second-round picks over the next seven years.
Porter was selected in the first round of the 2019 draft by the Milwaukee Bucks, which flipped him to the Cleveland Cavaliers on draft night.
The USC product spent one season with the Cavaliers before being traded to the Rockets in January 2021. He spent the last three seasons of his career in Houston and put up his best numbers in 2022-23.
Porter averaged 19.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.4 steals in 59 games last season while shooting 44.2 percent from the floor and 36.6 percent from deep. His contributions put the Rockets no closer to contending for a title as they finished with a 22-60 record.
Porter’s performance on the court has been overshadowed by allegations that he assaulted his girlfriend, former WNBA player Kysre Gondrezick, at a New York City hotel last month. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree strangulation and third-degree assault.
Porter was initially accused of fracturing one of Gondrezick’s neck vertebrae and leaving her with a deep cut above her right eye, resulting in a charge of second-degree assault.
However, prosecutors dropped the second-degree assault charge against Porter this week. Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Mirah Curzer cited “insufficient evidence,” adding, “What initially appeared to be a fractured vertebrae was not in fact an injury caused by the defendant.”
Porter’s lawyers shared documents with the New York Post indicating that Gondrezick’s neck fracture was a congenital defect and not a result of the alleged assault.
Porter was offered a plea deal on the third-degree assault charge, but he rejected the offer, Curzer said.
Prior to the trade, the Rockets told Porter he could not be with the team in any capacity following the alleged attack.
Rockets general manager Rafael Stone said earlier this month at the team’s media day:
Porter signed a four-year, $82.5 million extension with the Rockets before the 2022-23 season. Although he’s now slated to become a free agent, it’s possible he won’t be picked up by a team—if at all—until his legal situation is resolved.
