Report: Rockets could make Lakers and Bucks sweat in free agency

The Houston Rockets have money to burn in free agency and they reportedly have interest in two Los Angeles Lakers players.

The Houston Chronicle’s Jonathan Feigen published an article on Sunday regarding the Rockets’ free-agency situation. While he named several players the team could target, the Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks were the only teams with multiple players on his list.

According to Feigen, the Rockets have interest in Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura, both of who are restricted free agents, from the Lakers. From the Bucks, the Rockets reportedly are interested in Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez.

Though Middleton opted out of his contract with Milwaukee to become a free agent, he could end up re-signing with the Bucks. Lopez has previously been mentioned as a possibility for the Rockets, but Milwaukee wants to re-sign him as well.

Reaves and Hachimura are very interesting cases.

The Lakers would like to keep both players, but if other teams put financial pressure on them by signing the players to large offer sheets, the Lakers might not be able to keep up. They reportedly have a price they’re willing to pay to keep Reaves. For his part, Hachimura will likely make somewhere in the $14-$18 million range anually.

The Lakers also have D’Angelo Russell as a restricted free agent and likely will not prioritize him as highly as Reaves and Hachimura.

The Rockets may have to end up throwing big money at Bruce Brown or Jordan Clarkson in order to improve from their 22-60 record in 2022-23.