Veteran center Willie Cauley-Stein‘s 10-day deal with the Rockets has expired, per Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). Feigen adds that Houston does not have any players on the docket to fill his roster spot immediately.
Given that the Rockets are now carrying just 13 players on standard contracts, one below the NBA’s required minimum, they’ll have two weeks to add a 14th player. As Feigen notes, Cauley-Stein did not play while with Houston.
There’s more out of the Southwest Division:
- Rockets rookie Jabari Smith Jr. has struggled in an uneven first pro season, Feigen writes in a separate article. Selected with the third pick in 2022 out of Auburn, the 6’10” power forward has exhibited enticing defensive flashes, but has struggled offensively, Feigen notes.
- The rebuilding Spurs‘ current players can’t help but acknowledge the ongoing sweepstakes for the right to draft top 2023 prospect Victor Wembanyama, writes Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News. “It’s hard not to avoid looking at the bottom,” forward Keita Bates-Diop said. “I don’t like looking at it when I see it.” Veteran San Antonio forward Doug McDermott also weighed in: “I know everyone is probably aware of (the standings). You see it on social media and it’s kind of hard to escape. But it’s not like I’m checking on my phone every night to see where we’re at.”
- Warriors power forward Draymond Green weighed in on the plight of troubled Grizzlies All-Star point guard Ja Morant on his self-titled podcast. Green opined that Morant could learn from All-Star veterans LeBron James and Stephen Curry, both of whom have been model citizens while operating as the de facto faces of the league. (hat tip to Evan Barnes of The Memphis Commercial Appeal for the transcription). “You can’t be the face of the NBA putting the NBA in harm’s way,” Green said. “A team competing at a championship level, No. 2 seed in the West, it’s being thrown away.”
I promise the actual basketball that’s being played across the country (& beyond) is far more interesting & entertaining than these
narratives they keep trying to shove on us… link to m.youtube.com
Sign the guy too never play him.
You just know it’s bad, when it’s Draymond preaching about how it is to be a model NBA citizen.
And when he isn’t exactly wrong
When he’s exactly right, really.
Draymond Green making complete sense for once…
Gilbert Arenas didn’t last long…
Ja has to make the decision if he wants to be a role model the NBA can endorse or be a gun toting lunatic trying desperately to make up for something…
There’s no middle line here… He’s either going to fall in line and wait until he retires to play with guns in public or he’s going to be at the same meet and greets that Gilbert Arenas haunts as a one time promising player that fizzled out of the NBA…
I mean. Arenas really fell out of the league because of injury. He wasn’t the same player after that knee injury. The gun suspension just happened at the same time.
Javaris Crittenton is a better example. Middle class family, decorated college career. F-ing it up with his gun stuff and trying to act gangsta. Later ends up in prison for murder. Thankfully Ja managed to pull his head out of his butt after this, and hopefully it sticks.
Crittenton killed someone?
That puts him on Par with Green in the category of actually breaking a law, but an extreme comparison in this case.
Yes he did, and no it doesn’t. That’s probably the worst case of false equivalency I’ve ever seen on this site. What the hell. Green punched his teammate in the face over a dispute. He should have been punished, but got away scot-free. IN NO WAY IS THAT EQUIVALENT TO MURDER. Jesus. I shouldn’t even have to say that.
Its injuring, or harming a living human being! Murder is that, and so is sucker punching another man.
The punishment is clearly different for good reason, but they share a common thread in character, harm, injury, and morality
Bringing guns in to scare people, and possibly making them fear for their life, and being successful at it can also be construed through the eyes of the Law as physical harm, or injury.
Making a fake video for a social media profile, and maintaining that genre of profile on social media is dishonest, but I don’t see the direct comparison, injury, or harm to other humans
To clarify, since someone took my words out of context. Ja is at the stage of “f-ing it up with gun stuff and trying to act gangsta”, but he managed to realize he was making poor choices, and chose to take some time to figure things out. That shows a level of personal integrity and self-assessment that many people don’t have, and certainly not Crittenton. That’s a good thing. I just hope he actually sticks with his commitment to do better. The thing with the gun on instagram is far from the first time he’s been in a negative spotlight, after all.
Making a fake video is not a big deal, and I disagree he is messing anything up.
I think what is wrong is the transparency between the Media, the NBA, and Ja Morant, and public knowledge, and information.
I don’t think he wants to get caught as a poser publicly, or get suspended.
He maybe even took money to participate in this little ruse.
But to believe the media reports that were proven to be of no substance by a police investigation, and still claim Ja is authentically a gangsta?
I just don’t believe the mainstream media that much, and put Ja on Par with the Hollywood actors he just finished pal-ing around with 2 weeks ago.
There is another reason, but that will definitely get deleted if I comment about it.
Free speech America, hooray
I’m guessing the league already talked to him. They likely threatened him with a suspension or he could say he is taking some time off. Either way the guy is blowing a huge opportunity if he doesn’t shape up.
Let’s ignore the troll in the room and focus on Jabari Smith dropping a career best 30pt/12trb performance against the Pacers. That was impressive. He looked super confident, and had the best performance of any single player on the floor. That’s what the Rockets were expecting when they drafted him #3. Already a better focal point than Jalen Green-light.