The Rockets made a number of moves to build their roster for the regular season, announcing in a press release that they have transformed Exhibition 10 big man contracts Oscar Tibwe and forward Julian Phillips to bilateral transactions.
Houston already had one two-way slot open. In order to accommodate both conversions, the team also deployed a two-way player Sean Pedula on refusal. The Rockets now have 14 players under standard contracts, joined by Tibwe and Phillips Quadir Copeland on bilateral transactions.
Tibwe, who turns 27 in November, has played in 49 regular-season games for the Pacers and Jazz since coming out of Kentucky in 2023. The 6’8″ forward/center averaged 7.0 points and 6.5 rebounds in 15.2 minutes per game as a pro, including 7.8 points and 6.6 rebounds in 27 games for Utah while on a two-way contract last season.
Known for his rebounding ability, Tibwe excelled at the G League level, averaging more rebounds (17.3) than points (15.4) per game in 64 NBAGL appearances for the Salt Lake City Stars, Utah’s affiliate, over the past two seasons.
In the final two regular season games of the 2025/26 NBA season, Tshibwe got a chance to play significant minutes for the Jazz and averaged 22.5 ppg and 19.5 ppg at 30.0 mpg. That included 22 boards in just 28 minutes on April 10 against Memphis and nine offensive rebounds against the Lakers on April 12.
As for Phillips, the former No. 35 overall pick averaged 4.6 points and 2.1 rebounds in 79 games (14.2 minutes per contest) in 2024/25 after playing a modest rookie role in 23/24. However, he played little in ’25/26, his third season, averaging 2.9 ppg and 1.0 rpg on 8.9 mpg in 48 appearances.
Phillips, who played one year of college basketball at Tennessee, spent his first two-and-a-half seasons in the NBA with the Bulls, who traded him to the Timberwolves late last season. Minnesota refused his $2.4 million team option on the 6-foot-6 wing in June and also declined to tender him a qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent.
Phillips has career averages of 3.6 PPG and 1.5 RPG on .435/.320/.771 shooting in 167 games, including seven starts (11.2 MPG). He will also be celebrating his birthday in November, turning 23 next month.
Pedula, who turned 24 earlier this month, is a 6-foot-1 point guard who played in seven games for the Clippers as a rookie in 2025-26 after going undrafted out of Ole Miss last June. He will become an unrestricted free agent on Wednesday, provided he clears waivers.
Today’s moves seem to be fixed Jae Sean Tate (partially guaranteed contract) and Isaiah Crawford (non-guaranteed salary) as 13th and 14th on the Rockets’ standard roster. Crawford is on track to receive a partial guarantee of $1.15 million entering the regular season.
Operating just $14K under the luxury tax limit, Houston is expected to be without a 15th man on opening night.
