Rockets general manager Rafael Stone and assistant GM Eli Witus signed multiyear contract extensions with the franchise earlier this season, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). The deals were agreed to in January, per Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required). Stone and Witus were promoted to their current basketball operations roles back in 2020 when longtime head of basketball operations Daryl Morey left the Rockets. The revamped front office immediately faced trade requests from veteran stars Russell Westbrook and James Harden and launched a full-fledge ..read more

The Rockets’ 2023/24 season, their first under new head coach Ime Udoka, is now in the books. Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle breaks down how the team showed plenty of promise en route to a 41-41 finish, diminished slightly by the lack of a playoff or play-in berth. The Rockets finished as the No. 11 seed in the Western Conference. “Happy wouldn’t be the word,” Udoka said. “We are disappointed we didn’t meet our goal. When you are a few games behind, you think of all the tough … games we’ve given away, we understand where we could have been. The goal always was to make the playoffs an ..read more

The Hornets have added Lakers assistant Jordan Ott and former Vanderbilt coach Jerry Stackhouse to their list of head coaching candidates, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets. Ott has been with the Lakers since Darvin Ham brought him in as an assistant in September 2022. He was previously on the Nets’ staff. Stackhouse was hired by the Commodores in 2019 and fired last March. The former All-Star guard has also been an assistant with the Raptors and Grizzlies and was also head coach of the G League 905 Raptors. Rockets assistant Royal Ivey will also be interviewed, according to the Houston Chronic ..read more

The Rockets’ win over the Trail Blazers on Friday proved to be a nice payday for forward Jae’Sean Tate. He gained a $500K bonus due to his team winning 40 games this season, ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets ..read more

Confirming prior reporting from Forbes, Marc Stein (Substack link) cites sources who say that Mark Cuban‘s sale agreement with Miriam Adelson and Patrick Dumont stipulates that the Mavericks‘ new majority owners have the option to buy an additional 20% of the franchise in four years. For the time being, Cuban has retained control of 27% of the team and reportedly still maintains a voice in the personnel decisions, though he’s no longer the final decision-maker. However, if Adelson and Dumont exercise that option a few years from now, the extra shares would come out of Cuban’s stake in the team ..read more

The Grizzlies will be without 13 of their 15 standard contract players when they take on the Lakers on Friday (Twitter link via Memphis Commercial Appeal’s Damichael Cole) and it’s the latest development from an injury-mired and disappointing season. Memphis dealt with long-term injuries to almost everyone on the roster and continues to cycle through 10-day contract hardship players to see what sticks. Two-way players have started over 50 combined games for the team that has seen an NBA record 33 individual players suit up this year. That leaves Memphis, a team that is widely expected to be a ..read more

The Australian national team has revealed its preliminary roster for the 2024 Olympics, announcing a list of 22 players that are in the mix to play in Paris. That group will have to be cut down to 12 players ahead of this summer’s tournament. Australia’s preliminary roster includes several NBAers, including Thunder guard Josh Giddey, Mavericks guard Dante Exum, Trail Blazers forward Matisse Thybulle and big man Duop Reath, Mavericks wing Josh Green, Pelicans guard Dyson Daniels, Magic forward Joe Ingles, Heat guard Patty Mills, Rockets center Jock Landale, and Grizzlies forward Jack White ..read more

Rockets center Alperen Sengun, who has been sidelined since March 10 due to knee and ankle injuries, had hoped to get back on the court in the season’s final week, but it doesn’t look like it’ll happen, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required). “I would say (it’s) unlikely,” head coach Ime Udoka said. “Alperen still has swelling. A lot was going to be based on our results and how we finished the season. No need to really rush him back.” Sengun enjoyed a breakout year for the Rockets this season, averaging 21.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 5.0 assists in 32.5 minutes ..read more

Mavericks coach Jason Kidd likes his team’s spirit with the postseason nearing, Eddie Sefko of Mavs.com relays. His team pulled out an OT win over the Rockets on Sunday and strengthened its grip on the fifth spot in the Western Conference. The Rockets were seemingly in control on Sunday but Dante Exum sent the game in OT with a 3-pointer. Houston was officially eliminated from the postseason picture with the loss. “Right now, probably not a whole lot of good (to take from the tough loss),” Rockets guard Fred VanVleet told Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. “High-level game. Big shots ..read more

The 20 teams that will compete in either the playoffs or the play-in tournament (or both) have officially been set following the Rockets‘ loss to Dallas on Sunday, per the NBA (Twitter link). There’s still much to be decided in the season’s final week, including exactly which six teams in each conference will secure playoff spots without having to win one or two play-in games. However, with the Rockets’ elimination, we at least know which teams from both the West and East will play beyond the end of the regular season next Sunday. The Nuggets, Timberwolves, and Thunder have already clinched pl ..read more