Friday’s NBA free agency opening meetings for the Houston Rockets

Ahead of the beginning of free agency, Houston’s brass traveled to Los Angeles to set up camp and prepare for a number of meetings that will take place over the next few days. At the outset, they will meet with wing Dillon Brooks and center Brook Lopez, league sources say.

In addition, the Rockets are expecting to meet with Kyrie Irving, those sources said.

The Rockets… also have a strong interest in Bruce Brown, who is said to have a good relationship with Udoka. In Brown’s case, Houston would be prepared to go over the mid-level exception to land his services, according to sources briefed on the matter.

A meeting with forward Kyle Kuzma has also been mentioned as a possibility.

Other big man targets include Dwight Powell and Jakob Poeltl.

Jordan Clarkson, who reportedly picked up his option for next season, is also of interest.

The Rockets will prioritize shorter term contracts and are willing to offer more money up front for players they are strongly interested in, league sources say. Non-negotiable areas of need that have been identified are shooting and defense/rim protection.

They’ve indicated to agents this offseason that they have no intention of offering contracts that extend longer than two seasons.

Finding an established point guard and shoring up playmaking deficiencies has long been Houston’s most important task, but there is an important caveat. Similar to the Rockets’ draft prep where they discussed potential scenarios in which certain players would be off the board, such is the same in free agency.

There have been some discussions where top point guards opt for places outside of Houston. In that scenario, league sources say, one idea presented was to aggressively pursue a player like that [Bruce] Brown — a wing defender with secondary ball handling ability — and afford more on-ball reps to [Amen] Thompson and [Jalen] Green to help their development.

Trade talks surrounding fourth-year forward Kenyon Martin Jr. have increased in number in recent days with the expectation that a trade this offseason is increasingly likely, league sources say.

To be clear, Martin has not requested a trade since this time last season, but with Houston still seeking avenues to improve their financial flexibility heading into July, Martin’s combination of age, upside and salary makes him an attractive candidate on the market.

James Harden had an interest in a reunion with the Rockets — who are flush with $64 million in salary cap space — but their guard’s focus has increasingly been on pursuing Toronto Raptors free agent Fred VanVleet, sources said. Harden is hopeful to find his way to a contending team in a trade scenario, sources said.

What once thrived in the realm of serious potential to lift the Rockets franchise back into relevance is no more than the door between James Harden and the Rockets has been firmly slammed shut for good.