In an effort to create salary cap space to pursue big-name free agents, the Houston Rockets are ready to discuss trades involving key players Ryan Anderson, Lou Williams and Patrick Beverley. According to Marc Stein of ESPN, the three will be put on the trading block "to create summer spending flexibility” to enable them to pursue Chris Paul, Paul Millsap, Blake Griffin and Kyle Lowry.

The Rockets need to create salary cap room to acquire key players from the free-agent pool in order to provide superstar James Harden with needed help. They have no first-round picks to offer via trade and they currently hold the No.

43 and No. 45 picks in the second round.

Williams taken by surprise by news

Williams appeared to be taken by surprise by the news, reacting via his Twitter account with the words “Uh Oh lol”. The Rockets acquired Williams via trade with the Lakers at last season's trade deadline. He is set to earn $7 million in the final season of his deal.

Last season, Anderson signed a four-year, $80 million deal with the Rockets. Next season, he is due to make $19.58 million. Anderson started all of his 72 games with the Rockets last season, averaging 13.6 points and 4.6 boards while making 40 percent of his shots from beyond the arc.

Among the three players, Beverley’s name came as a surprise since he was the Rockets’ starting guard for the past four seasons.

The 28-year-old Beverley was a second-round pick by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2009 Draft before he joined the Rockets during the 2012-13 season.

Beverley signed a four-year deal, $23 million deal with the Rockets in 2015 and he is set to earn $5.5 million next season. Last season, Beverley averaged 9.5 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 67 games.

Jazz interested in Beverley

The Utah Jazz are shopping for a veteran point guard with last season’s playmaker George Hill expected to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer. According to Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune, Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey made a “trade inquiry” to the Rockets regarding Beverley. The Minnesota Timberwolves and the Milwaukee Bucks are interested in adding Hill, who started his career with the San Antonio Spurs before he was traded to the Indiana Pacers for Kawhi Leonard.

The 31-year-old Hill played five seasons for the Pacers before he joined the Jazz last season where he averaged 16.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 49 games. He missed 33 games due to injuries.
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