Houston Rockets: Team proposes opening up free agency before the draft

The Houston Rockets have been known for their innovation, particularly with general manager Daryl Morey’s ability to think outside of the box. Their latest crusade actually will turn some heads. What’s going on? Let’s take a look.

The Houston Rockets just a few days away from free agency — which will start July 1 — the team is eagerly anticipating being able to sign top talent to try to improve this team even more. The latest rumors haven’t swung in the way of the favor of this team but I expect shoes — sneakers in this realm — to drop as things edge closer to the deadline.

But what’s the latest that’s going on with the Houston Rockets? They’re proposing some big changes to the off season calendar.

What’s going on?

According to ESPN.com’s Zach Lowe, the Houston Rockets have proposed the idea of opening up

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free agency before the NBA Draft which would likely be a month earlier than it normally is. This idea was proposed to the NBA’s competition committee this past April and it’s interesting that this idea hasn’t ever been floated as even a remote possibility.

Lowe writes that this notion has gained traction among many executives league-wide and it seems to be brainchild of Houston Rockets vice president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas, a mainstay in the team’s front office.

I actually like this idea because it’s quite similar to the NFL’s calendar where free agency opens about a month before the draft starts. It would encourage teams to make deals that made sense and not just try to burn money to fulfill the spending requirements of the salary cap.

I honestly think that the very reason why Ryan Anderson was signed to a four-year, $80 million deal was because of that reason. In the 2015 off season, the salary cap ballooned because of the windfall of extra cash from the new television rights deal that the league had brokered the season previous.

This certainly gave teams more money to spend and with the Houston Rockets running out of options to acquire more free agents in that off season, they just went on and gave Ryno that huge contract to which has been highly-regarded as a albatross on the team’s neck.

He has obviously under-performed in this contract and if Morey could take back the money he gave him, I’m positive that he would. This would’ve never happened had the calendar been flipped.

This proposal would ensure teams make deals that are more heady for the future and not made in haste because of certain deadlines that have to be met.

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It’s been kicked around that this change will stimulate a lot more trade activity during the draft which, to me, has become a big yawn fest as of late. This will get more people watching this event in anticipation of big trades rather than waiting for the current blockbuster date of July 1.

All in all, it’s a nice suggestion to make and I hope it’s approved for future seasons but we’ll have to see.

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