Dillon Brooks has seemingly parted ways with the Rockets in free agency. For the altogether uninitiated, a capped free agent becomes an unrestrained free agent if they sign an offer sheet with another team and their current team decides not to meet the offer.
They are then free to get signed on with any team. Along with Brooks, the Rockets also signed veteran free agents Jeff Green and Jock Landale during the 2023 free agency period, and Aaron Holiday will team up with Amen Thompson, a rookie, as backup point guards.
Dillon Brooks lands $86 million deal with Rockets: NBA insider
According to earlier reports, Dillon Brooks and the Houston Rockets reached an agreement on a four-year, $80 million deal. The actual amount, however, is $86 million, with an additional $4 million in incentives. On July 8th, the contract was formally signed. ESPN’s McMahon and Wojnarowski broke the story first.
Last year, Brooks’ season with the Memphis Grizzlies was unimpressive. Including 32.6% from outside the arc, he shot a mediocore 39.6% overall, although he did average 14.3 points, with 2.6 assists per game and 3.3 rebounds. Nonetheless, Brooks displayed strong defense during the regular season.
Reporting with @espn_macmahon: Dillon Brooks’ four-year, $80M deal with the Rockets? Well it’s landed at four-years $86M in the sign-and-trade — with $4M more in incentives that can bring it to $90M, sources tell ESPN. https://t.co/FiRjmYl2TB
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 9, 2023
Yet, it’s debatable if that was sufficient to support a nearly $22.5 million deal yearly. As the playoffs saw a significant decline in Brooks’ stats as well as his stronghold. He shot a pitiful 31.2%, including just 23.8% from outside the arc, in the Memphis’ first-round drubbing to the 7th-seeded LA Lakers, averaging 3.0 rebounds and 10.5 points per game.
Memphis’ unsatisfactory performance in that series was also attributed to Dillon Brooks. When the series moved to Los Angeles, his disparaging remarks about LeBron James following Memphis’ victory in Game 2, came back to haunt him and the Grizzlies. Memphis was destroyed by the Lakers, and Brooks was absent.
https://youtu.be/8DtWR6EcCt8
Rockets seeking a trade move for the guard
Josh Christopher, a shooting guard, used social media to bid the Houston Rockets farewell after being traded to the Memphis Grizzlies. On Saturday afternoon, the Houston Rockets’ roster underwent a massive upheaval.
While adding a number of seasoned free agents to their roster, the Rockets also traded away several of their young players, most notably K.J. Martin, to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for two second-round picks. Josh Christopher, a third-year prospect, also joined Martin in being fired. In exchange for Houston receiving Dillon Brooks in a sign-and-trade, the Rockets sent Christopher to the Memphis Grizzlies.
Christopher’s two years with the Rockets, who selected him with the 24th overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, came to an end as a result of the trade. Josh said goodbye to Houston on Instagram on Wednesday night. TyTy Washington Jr. and Usman Garuba left with the Rockets in addition to Martin and Christopher.
In a salary cap dump, Houston traded Washington and Garuba to the Atlanta Hawks. Dillon Brooks and his $22.5 million per year contract raises concerns overall about its justification in light of his subpar shooting and playoff performance.
