The Rockets will not exercise their team option on Francisco Garcia for 2013/14, tweets Mark Berman of FOX 26 Houston. Given the price on the option ($6.4MM), the decision comes as no surprise for a Houston team that will have the opportunity to clear more than $15MM in cap space this summer.

With Garcia heading for unrestricted free agency, Houston will have about $39.33MM in guaranteed salaries and $9.18MM in non-guaranteed salaries remaining on its books for next season. Some of those non-guaranteed contracts, such as Chandler Parsons' and Patrick Beverley's, seem to be locks to become guaranteed, while others aren't so certain, as I outlined when I previewed the Rockets' offseason.

As for Garcia, the longtime Sacramento King was sent to Houston for salary purposes as part of the six-player deadline deal that also sent Thomas Robinson to the Rockets. In 58 total games this season, the 31-year-old Garcia averaged 5.5 PPG and shot 37.4% from three-point range. While the Louisville product has never been an exceptional scorer in the NBA, he can still contribute as an outside threat, leading Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com to speculate that he could be a fit for the Lakers. Garcia, for his part, has said he'd like to return to Houston.

When discussing potential landing spots besides L.A. for Dwight Howard this summer, many pundits point to Houston as an ideal fit for the big man, given the Rockets' combination of young talent and cap space. Of course, the Rockets already have a solid defensive center in their starting lineup, but Omer Asik tells Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle that he's not letting the Howard rumors affect him.

"It’s all things that happen out of my control," Asik said. "I really don’t know and I really don’t care. Whether it happens, we’ll see. I’m just looking forward to rest and getting better for the next season."

Here's more on the Rockets and their Western Conference rivals:

• Although the Rockets are unlikely to exercise a team option that would pay him $6.4MM, Francisco Garcia would still like to find a way to return to Houston, as he tells Feigen.
• After explaining over the weekend why Kendrick Perkins is unlikely to be amnestied, Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman wonders if the Thunder big man is undervalued, at least by fans.
• If the Jazz don't spend heavily this summer, it will be a "strategic decision" rather than an indication the team is financially strapped, according to GM Dennis Lindsey (Twitter link via Steve Luhm of the Salt Lake Tribune).
• Despite an early exit from the postseason, GM Masai Ujiri isn't worried about the Nuggets, telling 9News in Denver that the team will "get ready for next season and figure out ways to fix it and get better." As Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post points out, a new contract for Ujiri figures to be one item near the top of the club's offseason to-do list.
• Following another unproductive season, Xavier Henry doesn't have a clear spot in the Pelicans' future plans, writes Jimmy Smith of the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

A complete recap of trades that were completed before Thursday's trade deadline:

• The Houston Rockets traded Marcus Morris to the Phoenix Suns and Patrick Patterson, Cole Aldrich, and Toney Douglas to the Sacramento Kings for Thomas Robinson, Francisco Garcia, Tyler Honeycutt, and a future second-round pick.
• The Miami Heat traded Dexter Pittman and a future second-round pick to the Memphis Grizzlies for the rights to Ricky Sanchez and cash considerations.
• The Washington Wizards traded Jordan Crawford to the Boston Celtics for Leandro Barbosa and Jason Collins.
• The Oklahoma City Thunder traded Eric Maynor to the Portland Trail Blazers for a trade exception and the rights to Georgios Printezis. The Blazers waived Ronnie Price to clear a roster spot for Maynor.
• The Thunder also acquired Ronnie Brewer from the New York Knicks for a future second-round pick.
• The Atlanta Hawks traded Anthony Morrow to the Dallas Mavericks for Dahntay Jones.
• The Suns traded Sebastian Telfair to the Toronto Raptors for Hamed Haddadi and a future second-round pick.
• The Orlando Magic traded J.J. Redick, Gustavo Ayon, and Ishmael Smith to the Milwaukee Bucks for Beno Udrih, Tobias Harris, and Doron Lamb.
• In a separate deal, the Magic traded Josh McRoberts to the Charlotte Bobcats for Hakim Warrick. 
• The Golden State Warriors traded Jeremy Tyler to the Hawks for a second-round pick. They also traded Charles Jenkins to the Philadelphia 76ers for an additional second-round pick.

The Rockets have finalized a pair of deals they agreed upon Wednesday night, sending Marcus Morris to the Suns for a second-round pick and trading Patrick Patterson, Cole Aldrich, Toney Douglas and $1MM to the Kings for Thomas Robinson, Francisco Garcia and Tyler Honeycutt. The second-rounder heading to Houston is Phoenix's own 2013 selection. The Suns, who were at the roster limit of 15 players going into the trade, waived Luke Zeller to make room for Morris. 

Houston was reportedly deciding between a pair of deals for Morris, whom the Rockets held out of their win against Oklahoma City on Wednesday. With Houston's top two power forwards gone, it looks like a pair of rookies, in Robinson and Terrence Jones, will man the position as the team fights to hold on to the final playoff spot in the West. One of the motivations to trade Morris was to free up time for Jones, according to HoopsWorld's Steve Kyler.

As Grantland's Zach Lowe points out via Twitter, the pair of moves will save Houston approximately $1.6MM for next season if they decline their option on Garcia. Lowe surmised earlier that Houston would look to cut between $1.5MM and $2MM to clear room for a max deal to land Dwight Howard, who'll be a free agent this summer. The Rockets also get the No. 5 overall pick from this past June's draft in Robinson, who's seen just 15.9 minutes per game as a reserve for the Kings this year. Nonetheless, Robinson is grabbing 4.7 rebounds in his limited action, which would extrapolate to 10.6 rebounds per 36 minutes.

Sacramento had appeared unlikely to make a deal as their ownership situation remains in limbo, but they flipped Robinson for two expiring deals and Patterson, who will enter the final season of his rookie contract next year. The move was all about cost-cutting and not something the Kings current management wished to do, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. The Chris Hansen/Howard Ballmer group from Seattle that has a deal in place to buy the Kings was briefed on the trade before it went down, according to fellow Yahoo! Sports scribe Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). It's unclear exactly where the directive to make the trade came from, though SB Nation's Tom Ziller indicated Wednesday night that co-owner Gavin Maloof and Geoff Petrie are the driving forces in the Kings front office at the moment.

The Suns considered trading a first-round pick for Morris when the Rockets drafted him 14th overall in 2011, but wound up nabbing him for a second-rounder, currently projected to be the 35th overall selection. Now the power forward will reunite with his twin brother, Markieff Morris, whom the Suns took 13th overall in 2011. With the next pick that year, the Rockets drafted Marcus.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (All Twitter links) initially broke the news of both trades. Sam Amick of USA Today (All Twitter links) and TNT's David Aldridge (Twitter link) contributed additional details.

On Wednesday, Yahoo! Sports reported that the Maloof family was in talks to sell the Sacramento Kings to a Seattle-based ownership group led by investor Chris Hansen. While the status of the deal is still up in the air, Grantland's Zach Lowe examines how the potential sale could affect the Kings' willingness to make trades as the deadline approaches.

Lowe writes that executives around the league believe the Kings will still be willing trade partners, despite the complications that may arise in the event of an ownership transfer. He believes there is a unanimous belief within the organization that DeMarcus Cousins, despite his recent troubles, is considered off-limits in any trade discussions.

The three players beyond Cousins that Lowe points to as potential pieces the Kings could move are Tyreke Evans, Jason Thompson, and Francisco Garcia. Lowe suggests that these and other players could be turned into a package for Rudy Gay.

Lowe also speculates about the status of Evans, who is headed to restricted free agency after the 2012/13 season. He writes that Evans may have a similar experience in free agency to that of O.J. Mayo, who signed a two-year contract with the Mavericks when no long-term deal presented itself.

With this season's deadline still three months away, the trade market likely won't be too active for at least a few more weeks. However, as Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld writes, things could start to pick up on December 15th, when most players who signed over the summer are eligible to be dealt. Kyler looks at a few specific trade candidates in his latest piece, so let's round up the highlights....

• Josh Smith, Paul Millsap, and Al Jefferson are a few players in the final year of their contracts whose respective teams aren't planning to deal. However, the Hawks and Jazz could reconsider their stances as the deadline approaches, if there's an increasing concern that those players will leave in free agency.
• While there's no urgency in Toronto to move Jose Calderon, the Raptors are expected to explore deals. Kyler suggests that small forwards like Omri Casspi and Wilson Chandler are worth keeping an eye on as potential Raptors targets, adding that Chandler isn't in the Nuggets' long-term plan.
• The Rockets likely aren't done dealing, with players like Daequan Cook, Toney Douglas, and Marcus Morris among the team's possible trade candidates.
• DeJuan Blair continues to be available, but the Spurs are still seeking a first-round pick, and it's unclear if any team would pay that price for a player that could sign elsewhere at season's end.
• Anderson Varejao isn't likely to be moved, but if the Cavaliers were to consider a deal, it would have to include Luke Walton and his $6.09MM salary.
• Similarly, if the Kings explored a Tyreke Evans trade, Sacramento would want to include either John Salmons or Francisco Garcia.
• The Timberwolves would be open to moving Derrick Williams if they could land a good veteran player for him.
• Kyler also names Hedo Turkoglu, Tayshaun Prince, Tyrus Thomas, and Wesley Johnson as trade candidates, though all those players could be tough to move due to their salaries.