Rockets have interest in Rodney Stuckey, who wants to play with a contender

Rodney Stuckey is on the Rockets' radar.

The news from RealGM is a few days old but still worth mentioning. We'll dive in more to the Rockets' free agent situation soon, but in all likelihood, Daryl Morey will use his mid-level exception on a point guard. The No. 1 option appears to be Sergio Llull after Morey and Kevin McHale have been talking him up for weeks, but eggs should not all go in one basket.

Enter Rodney Stuckey, a combo guard much like Llull who could still fit nicely along James Harden in the starting lineup. The Pacers would, theoretically, like to bring him back, but they don't own his Bird Rights and RealGM reports he wants to sign with a contender. There's no contender out there looking to beef up in the backcourt as attractive as the Rockets.

Stuckey averaged 12.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists in Indiana last year as the lone offensive threat for weeks on the Pacers when George Hill went down with an injury. He was on the bench when Hill came back, but he was effective. It wasn't too long ago the Pistons were having discussions about building around Stuckey. He's an NBA-level talent worthy of big minutes on a playoff team.

Free agency starts on Wednesday, and we'll know soon after that whether Llull is a realistic candidate to cross the pond. The Rockets would need to pay a $5.6 million buyout to Real Madrid and are likely planning to offer him the full mid-level exception. That is only available to teams operating over the salary cap, which Morey said the Rockets are likely to do. That means re-signing Corey Brewer, re-signing one or both of Jason Terry and Patrick Beverley and giving up on the pursuit of Kevin Love and/or LaMarcus Aldridge.

We know the point guard position will not stay the same. I'd put the chances of Stuckey in Houston at 25 percent, but who knows what will happen if Llull balks at coming over. Again.