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Will Oladipo and Robinson-Earl Add to Depth?

Originally posted on FanNation Inside The Rockets
By Jonah Kubicek | Last updated 10/18/23

The Houston Rockets traded Kevin Porter Jr. to the Oklahoma City Thunder, who acquired him and draft picks for Victor Oladipo and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl. While the main appeal of the trade for Houston was to depart from Porter, they managed to get some talent in return.

Oladipo is in Houston for the second time, after playing 20 games in the 2020-21 season.

During that span, he posted career highs of 21.2 points, five assists, and 2.5 threes per game. He is a two-time All-Star, but his glory days are beyond him. He has remained in the league largely thanks to his leadership and excellent defense.

But the future of Oladipo remains bleak. As he continues to work himself back from a torn patellar tendon in his left knee, Oladipo will remain a strong buy candidate or someone the Rockets can flip for other assets for a midseason trade.

Robinson-Earl is an emerging big man in the league. While he has yet to stuff the stat sheet, his defense is serviceable despite his poor rim protection. He has shown flashes of shooting excellence, managing to make 34 percent of his threes over the last two seasons.

He is likely to slot into the backup center role ahead of Jock Landale and provide the interior defense that Alperen Şengün is yet to demonstrate. While his shooting is solid, he is not an elite scoring threat and will likely never develop into one.

The trade ends Porter's three-year stint in Houston. He appeared in 146 games with the Rockets since 2021. He has averaged 17.2 points on 42.8 percent shooting from the field, 36.1 percent shooting from behind the arc, 6.0 assists and 1.2 steals.

The Cleveland Cavaliers originally drafted Porter with the No. 30 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. After playing his rookie season, Porter did not join the team the following year due to personal reasons.

This article first appeared on FanNation Inside The Rockets and was syndicated with permission.

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