Report: Thunder acquire Kevin Porter Jr., two second-round picks; will waive him
The Oklahoma City Thunder have traded Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Victor Oladipo to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Kevin Porter Jr. and two future second-round draft picks, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The Thunder plan to immediately waive Porter Jr., who was previously not with the Rockets throughout training camp and preseason as he faces charges of second-degree strangulation and third-degree assault.
In September, Porter Jr. was arrested for allegedly assaulting and strangling his girlfriend, former WNBA player Kysre Gondrezick. He recently rejected a plea deal related to the arrest.
A second-degree assault charge was dropped on Monday by prosecutors due to “insufficient evidence.” According to reports, Gondrezick has a congenital defect that was mistaken for a cracked neck vertebra.
Porter Jr. signed a four-year extension worth up to $82.5 million last year with the deal only being partially guaranteed due to previous off-court issues.
The Thunder will pay Porter Jr. the remaining $16.9 million guaranteed money left of his current deal. The two second-round picks they acquired are a 2027 second-round pick from the Minnesota Timberwolves and a 2028 second-round pick from the Milwaukee Bucks.
This move marks the end of Robinson-Earl’s and Oladipo’s tenures with the Thunder. The former is owed $1.9 million this season with a $2 million team option for next season. The latter is on an expiring $9.5 million salary as he continues to rehab from a torn patellar tendon he suffered in April.
With Robinson-Earl and Oladipo on the move, the Thunder’s regular-season roster gets a bit clearer. This trade and subsequent release of Porter Jr. puts OKC’s roster at 19 players — 16 standard players and three two-way players.
The Thunder need to make one more roster decision in order to set their 18-man regular-season roster by the Oct. 25 season opener against the Chicago Bulls.
