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, a person with knowledge of the agreement told The Associated Press.
Porter Jr. — whose future in the NBA is uncertain because of serious legal issues — will be waived immediately by the Thunder once the trade gets league approval, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because neither team had announced the deal.
ESPN first reported the trade terms, which were later confirmed by The Houston Chronicle and other outlets. The Rockets also will receive Victor Oladipo and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl as part of the trade, the person said.
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 it learned of 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 patella tendon tear suffered in last season’s playoffs with Miami.
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