Rockets make decision on Kevin Porter Jr.

The Houston Rockets have finally reached a resolution with troubled former first-round pick Kevin Porter Jr.

The Rockets on Tuesday traded Porter and two future second-round draft picks to the Oklahoma City Thunder, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Porter will be immediately waived by Oklahoma City.

Houston landed Victor Oladipo and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl in the deal. The Thunder essentially bought draft picks in the trade, as they will have to pay Porter the $16.9M of guaranteed salary he is owed on his current contract.

Porter, a former first-round pick, was arrested on felony charges of assault and strangulation after an incident with his girlfriend, former WNBA player Kysre Gondrezick, at a New York City hotel last month. The alleged details of the incident were very disturbing and cast huge doubt on Porter’s continued future in the NBA.

One of the assault charges was dropped on Monday after Manhattan prosecutors acknowledged that an injury to Gondrezick’s neck was not caused by Porter. The 23-year-old is still facing charges of second-degree strangulation and third-degree assault. He has pleaded not guilty.

The Rockets likely would have waived Porter if they were unable to find a trade suitor, but Tuesday’s deal allowed them to land two players and free up some salary. Only the first year of the four-year, $82.5M contract extension with the Rockets in 2022 was guaranteed. Houston structured the deal that way because of Porter’s problematic history.

Porter was originally with the Cleveland Cavaliers but got traded after an outburst. During the 2021-22 season, he ditched the Rockets mid-game after getting called out by a coach.

Porter averaged a career-high 19.2 points per game last season.