Although from the current situation, the Rockets are unlikely to make a blockbuster operation and cause a sensation in the market, it does not mean that there are no adjustments, and all the players are the same as last season's lineup. Especially from a contract point of view, those players who are about to expire are likely to be cut by management.
The Rockets appear poised to fine-tune their roster, with forward Jaesha Tate, a sapper at the front lineup, who is being exercised as a team option, is likely to be used as a bargaining chip for the Rockets to compete for a more quality player. Two youngsters on two-way contracts, Nate Hinton and Jermaine Samuels, are not expected to make qualifying offers and instead make them free agents if their contracts expire.
In fact, Jaeshawn Tate is already one of the oldest players in the current Rockets, and he has been with the Rockets since the 20-21 season. Although he was born in the draft, Jaeshawn Tate averaged about 12 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 0.5 blocks per game in the first two seasons of the Rockets. But as the Rockets recruited everywhere, Jaeshawn Tate's playing time plummeted, and he simply fell out of the main rotation last season, averaging only 4.1 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 0.6 steals per game. Jaeshawn Tate's main problem is that his outside shooting is too poor, shooting less than 30% from three-point range, and with the return of Tari Eason and the addition of AJ Griffin, the Rockets seem to have no place for him.
As for those two two-way players, there was no chance in the Rockets, and it didn't matter much if they gave up directly. Among them, Nate Hinton is 25 years old, and he is not too young as a fringe player, and has been wandering around. Nate Hinton averaged 2.2 points and 1.5 rebounds per game last season, and because he can't play point guard, his function is relatively simple, but in terms of outside scorers, the Rockets already have Jalen Green and Scout Reed Shepherd, and they can't give him any chance at all.
Jermaine Samuels is more similar, he was originally a standard forward player, but Jermaine Samuels only averaged 1.4 points and 0.9 rebounds per game, even if he was sent to the Development League, Jermaine Samuels did not kill the Vipers. The Rockets currently have a lot of forward options, in other words, even Jayshawn Tate is unlikely to get many opportunities, and there is a high probability that they will be used as bargaining chips, not to mention two-way player Jermaine Samuels, so it is not surprising to give them up directly.