Thunder to waive Kevin Porter Jr. after trade with Rockets
The Rockets barred Kevin Porter Jr. from being with the team following his domestic violence arrest in September.
Kevin Porter Jr.’s time with the Houston Rockets is over, after the team agreed Tuesday to trade him and a pair of second-round draft picks to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Thunder announced the deal Tuesday and said Porter, whose future in the NBA is uncertain because of serious legal issues, “will be waived immediately.” Oklahoma City also sent Victor Oladipo and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl to Houston.
Thunder receive:
- Kevin Porter Jr.
- Two future second-round picks
Rockets receive:
- Victor Oladipo
- Jeremiah Robinson-Earl
OFFICIAL: Rockets Complete Trade With Oklahoma City
Details: https://t.co/LAvhhbq7Ju pic.twitter.com/JKOImXdCoj
— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) October 18, 2023
Porter is owed nearly $15.9 million for this season and an additional $1 million that was guaranteed for next season. The Rockets already had told Porter that he was essentially barred from the team after his arrest on domestic violence charges last month.
Porter was arrested after an alleged attack on his girlfriend, former WNBA player Kysre Gondrezick, in a New York City hotel room Sept. 11. One assault charge against Porter was dropped this week for insufficient evidence, the New York Post reported; he still faces a strangulation charge and another assault charge in relation to that alleged incident and has pleaded not guilty to both.
“The allegations against him are deeply troubling,” Rockets general manager Rafael Stone said earlier this month. “Going back a few weeks, as soon as I heard the allegations, I informed his representatives that he could not be part of the Houston Rockets.”
There is no known timetable on Oladipo’s return from a patellar tendon tear suffered in last season’s playoffs with Miami.
Oklahoma City received second-round picks in 2027 and 2028 in the deal.
