Sources: Rockets to Pursue Sign-and-Trade for Jimmy Butler

Once free agency starts on Sunday, the Houston Rockets are planning to recruit Jimmy Butler to push the Philadelphia 76ers for a sign-and-trade deal that would allow the All-Star forward to join James Harden and Chris Paul, league sources tell ESPN.

The Rockets don’t have the salary-cap space to sign Butler, so they’d need the threat of the Sixers losing him for nothing to a team with the available room to motivate the Sixers into a trade. The Rockets would also potentially need to make this a multiteam deal to satisfy the rules of Base Year Compensation that would cover Butler’s outgoing salary.

Source: Adrian Wojnarowski on Twitter