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The Houston Rockets face significant challenges in trading for Donovan Mitchell from the Cleveland Cavaliers due to salary cap constraints. Mitchell's $46.3 million salary complicates potential trade negotiations.

Why a Rockets trade for Donovan Mitchell with Cavs would be almost impossible originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Houston Rockets apparently want to trade for Donovan Mitchell.
That would be really, really hard to pull off with the Cleveland Cavaliers, though, for salary reasons.
NBA trades need salaries that nearly match, and Mitchell has a $46.3 million salary in play.
The Rockets don't have anyone equivalent to that.
They could throw in Fred VanVleet, who wouldn't be the key piece in the deal but would help add up salaries.
At that point, they'd have to try and add the likes of Jabari Smith Jr. and Reed Sheppard to the trade.
Would that be enough? It's hard to say.
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A trade for Donovan Mitchell is challenging for the Rockets primarily due to salary cap constraints, as NBA trades require salaries to nearly match.
Donovan Mitchell currently has a salary of $46.3 million.
The potential trade involves the Houston Rockets and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
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And VanVleet, coming off an injury, has a player option for the 2026-27 season. If he doesn't opt-in to his option, it would be a moot point.
Without FVV, this deal would be basically impossible. The only other contracts that would make it possible are Kevin Durant (who is more expensive than Mitchell) or Alperen Sengun.
The Cavs wouldn't another center in Sengun in a deal for a guard. And KD makes them older, probably not the direction they'd want to move.
In the end, it's hard to see these teams quite lining up on a Mitchell deal. Maybe they could get another team involved to help out.