Houston Rockets Rumors 2017: Team to meet with Amir Johnson today

It’s finally July 1st and the Houston Rockets are working fast and furiously to get deals done and they’ll be meeting with a player that can provide considerable help today.

Who would that be? The Houston Rockets are expected to meet with free agent forward Amir Johnson today in Los Angeles where all free agency meetings are being held. I certainly like the sound of this!

Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle had the scoop:

Rockets likely to meet with (or talk to) veteran forward Amir Johnson tomorrow, source said.
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) July 1, 2017

This is certainly notable news for the Houston Rockets as they’re definitely looking to shore up our interior presence and that’s certainly something that a player of his stature provides. Johnson has flourished with the Boston Celtics over the last few seasons, being all of what they were expecting to get out of him. But because the Celtics are in retooling — not rebuilding mode — Johnson certainly doesn’t appear to be a part of those plans.

The Rockets can use someone like Johnson as he’s durable, a solid rebound guy, can shoot threes — not at high volume — and can defend the interior quite well. You know Mike D’Antoni loves to mix-and-match with his proven rotation so it’s quite possible to see his versatility.

Johnson comes off a two-year, $24 million deal with the C’s and I’m sure he’s going to want something in that range or more as he does have value to what he brings to the table. The Rockets are currently over the $99M cap by $8M currently at $105M in committed contracts so far. So we know for sure he can’t be signed out-right.

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But can general manager Daryl Morey talk him into signing him with their mid-level exception with a handshake deal on a contract paying him more in the future? Let’s not be too naive, he’s going to want to get paid with all of the cash that’s flowing in today’s NBA. But if he wants to win — and I think he does, signing with the Rockets for less money is a possibility.

According to ESPN, he’s definitely wanted as he currently has interest from the Brooklyn Nets, Chicago Bills and Toronto Raptors, all teams with gobs of cap space starting at about $20 million or more. If I were a betting man, he’ll likely be signing with one of those teams with the Raptors — a former team of his — giving him the best chance to win. But with Serge Ibaka expected to re-sign with the Raptors, they may not be able to afford him. I think of Johnson as more of a cheaper Plan B if they can’t get Ibaka back on a new deal.

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This will be a tough signing for us to muster but knowing Morey, if there’s a will, there’s a way. Perhaps another sign-and-trade could be done involving Ryan Anderson but that’s a pipe dream, we all know Danny Ainge wasn’t born yesterday to fall for that one. But is it worth the trouble worthy of a transaction? We’ll have to see.

Johnson, 30, averaged 6.5 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists off 57.6 percent shooting from the field through 80 games last season.

Go Rockets.

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