Sources: Thunder acquiring Porter, waiving him

The Houston Rockets have traded guard Kevin Porter Jr. and two future second-round picks to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the team announced on Tuesday night. The Thunder will be immediately waiving Porter, sources told ESPN on Tuesday.

The Rockets are getting Victor Oladipo and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl in the deal that will send a 2027 second-round pick via the Minnesota Timberwolves and a 2028 second-round pick via the Milwaukee Bucks to the Thunder, sources told ESPN.

Essentially, the deal allows the Thunder to gather up draft assets and requires them to pay the $16.9 million of guaranteed salary left on Porter’s new four-year contract — and saves the Rockets $5.5 million in salary.

Porter’s future in the NBA is in significant question after he was arrested for an alleged attack on girlfriend Kysre Gondrezick, a former WNBA player, at the Millennium Hilton near the United Nations on Sept. 11 in New York.

Prosecutors initially said during Porter’s arraignment a day later that the attack left her with a fractured neck vertebra and a deep cut above her right eye, but Manhattan prosecutors dropped one of the assault charges against Porter on Monday, acknowledging that he did not fracture Gondrezick’s neck during the alleged assault.

Gondrezick on Tuesday told the New York Post that Porter “didn’t hit me,” saying allegations that he beat her were not true.

Porter still faces charges of second-degree strangulation and third-degree assault, to which he has pleaded not guilty.

Porter signed a four-year contract extension worth as much as $82.5 million last season. However, it is only partially guaranteed because of Porter’s history of off-court issues.

Porter was the No. 30 pick in the 2019 draft after spending one season at USC, where he was suspended because of conduct issues. He played his rookie season for the Cleveland Cavaliers but did not join the team the next season because of personal reasons. He was traded to the Rockets for a top-55 protected second-round pick in January 2021 in the wake of a shouting match with Cavaliers officials.

The Thunder have amassed 15 first-round and 22 second-round picks over the next seven years. Oklahoma City acquired Oladipo in an offseason trade with the Miami Heat that brought them two future second-round picks. Oladipo has $9.5 million on an expiring contract and is rehabilitating a torn patellar tendon in his left knee.

Robinson-Earl has a $1.9 million guarantee for this season and a $2 million team option for next year.

ESPN’s Bobby Marks and Tim MacMahon contributed to this report.

Source: www.espn.com