Houston Rockets Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Rockets To Re-Sign Troy Daniels

July 16th, 2014 at 7:44pm CST by Eddie Scarito

WEDNESDAY, 7:44pm: Daniels’ contract is for the minimum, totaling $1,763,758 over the two years, per the updated Rockets salary sheet by Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com.

TUESDAY, 6:46pm: It’s for a total of $2MM over two years, writes Jenny Dial Creech of the Houston Chronicle.

MONDAY, 5:41pm: The Rockets have reached an agreement to re-sign restricted free agent guard Troy Daniels, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). The contract is for two years and is fully guaranteed, reports Charania. Financial terms of the were not disclosed. Daniels had also received interest from the Mavericks, Spurs, Grizzlies, and Pelicans.

Houston had turned down their team option on Daniels, and instead extended him a qualifying offer. Daniels was originally scheduled to make the one-year veteran’s minimum of $816,482 on the option next season.

The Rockets had signed Daniels shortly after the trade deadline, cutting Ronnie Brewer to make room. He only appeared in five regular season games, but lit up the D-League, putting up 21.9 PPG and shooting 40.1% from behind the arc. Daniels then emerged as a key rotation player in the playoffs, averaging 7.8 PPG and nailing an impressive 53.3% of his three-pointers in the final four games of Houston’s first-round loss to the Blazers.

Texas Notes: Mavs, Nowitzki, Rockets, Messina

July 16th, 2014 at 2:15pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Mavs‘ offer to Lance Stephenson was for two years and $20MM, rather than three years at that total, according to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv, who corrects his earlier report (Twitter link). Chris Broussard of ESPN.com confirms that the sides had a “handshake agreement” on a two-year, $20MM pact contingent on the Rockets matching the Dallas offer to Chandler Parsons. Of course, the Rockets declined to match, and Stephenson wound up with Charlotte instead. There’s more on another offer the Mavs have made amid the latest from the Lone Star State:

Dallas is willing to give summer league swingman Eric Griffin a partially guaranteed deal, reports Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside. Griffin, who went undrafted out of Campbell in 2012, was in camp with the Heat last autumn. It’s unclear whether he’ll accept what the Mavs have on the table, indicating other NBA clubs may have interest, though that’s just my speculation.
A source close to the Lakers denied that the team floated a maximum-salary offer to Dirk Nowitzki, telling Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News that the Lakers would never have done so.
The Rockets intend to sign second-round pick Nick Johnson this summer, a source tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com (Twitter link). The shooting guard from Arizona went 42nd overall in last month’s draft.
The Spurs officially hired European coaching star Ettore Messina as an assistant coach Tuesday, the team announced, more than a month after GM R.C. Buford denied a report that they were close to a deal. Messina appeared to be a strong candidate for the Jazz head coaching vacancy this spring and was mentioned in connection to the Lakers head job, too.

Southwest Notes: Parsons, Mavericks, Baynes

July 16th, 2014 at 12:40am CST by Ryan Raroque

Here’s what we’ve gathered out of the Southwest Division:

It’s widely suspected around the league that Dan Fegan insisted that the Rockets turn down their team option on Chandler Parsons before he would allow fellow client Dwight Howard to sign in Houston last summer, Grantland’s Zach Lowe writes. Parsons strongly denied knowing of such a deal, notes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.
On Monday, Parsons told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports that he wasn’t thrilled with how the Rockets handled his restricted free agency. “…I was offended by the whole process…(Houston) publicly said that they were going out looking for a third star when I thought they had one right in front of them. I guess that’s just how they viewed me as a player. I don’t think I’ve scratched the surface of where I can be as a player and I think I’m ready for that role.”
Today, Parsons said he was surprised about the backlash he received by making those comments. While he didn’t back off from what he said, Parsons also cited that he praised Rockets GM Daryl Morey (Twitter link from Feigen).
On Monday, Mavericks president Donnie Nelson told Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that the team may not be done tweaking their roster. “We’re not done…But we feel pretty good about where things are right now.” Following the team’s addition of Rashard Lewis today, Price reminds that Nelson plans to keep one of the team’s final two roster spots open for flexibility down the line (Twitter link).
In the former piece, Price mentions also Al-Farouq Aminu, Bernard James, Shawn Marion, and Ivan Johnson as other names that Dallas could attempt to add before the start of next season.
Nelson sat down for an interview with KESN-FM 103.3 to offer some insight on how the Mavs plan to approach the rest of the season (transcription via SportsDayDFW) and mentioned that the team is always keeping its eye out for a shooter. It’s worth noting that he said this before they added Lewis, however.
While they won’t close the door on re-signing Marion, Nelson acknowledges that the veteran forward’s value in the marketplace is much higher than what the Mavs can afford.
The Spurs still hope to retain restricted free agent center Aron Baynes, tweets Jabari Young of The San Antonio Express-News. Young adds that San Antonio is willing to match any reasonable offer.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Rockets, Pelicans, Wizards Swap Ariza, Asik, Ely

July 15th, 2014 at 2:19pm CST by Zachary Links

2:19pm: The deal is official, the Pelicans have announced. New Orleans is folding Scotty Hopson into the trade after acquiring him over the weekend, marking the third trade for Hopson’s non-guaranteed contract in less than a week. So, It’s Asik, Casspi and $1.5MM to the Pelicans, Ariza, Gee, Hopson and a protected 2015 first-round pick to the Rockets, and Ely to the Wizards.

TUESDAY, 10:23am: The NBA has given its approval for the trade, and a formal announcement is forthcoming, according to John Reid of The Times Picayune (Twitter link).

SUNDAY, 7:55pm: Ely will not be retained by the Wizards, tweets J. Michael of CSNWashington.com.

5:59pm: Ariza will go to Houston on a three-way deal, according to David Aldridge of NBA.com (on Twitter). The Pelicans will get Omer Asik, Omri Casspi, and $1.5MM from the Rockets. Houston will get Ariza from Washington, Alonzo Gee, and a protected 2015 first-round choice from New Orleans. The Wizards will take on the non-guaranteed contract of Melvin Ely from New Orleans while receiving a $8.5MM trade exception (link).

Of course, Asik was already headed to the Pelicans in exchange for the 2015 first-rounder. Now, the deal has been expanded to help facilitate the Ariza sign-and-trade. Gee, meanwhile, has now been traded twice inside of a week.

5:08pm: The Rockets will acquire Trevor Ariza in a sign-and-trade deal with the Wizards, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). The Wizards will get a $8.5MM trade exception by making the deal, but it’s not clear what they’ll be sending to Houston in the trade.

The Rockets and Ariza agreed on a four-year, $32MM deal yesterday. A number of teams were rumored to be interested in the sharpshooter’s services, but the Rockets came out on top. Ariza will try and help fill the void at small forward for Houston now that Chandler Parsons is Dallas-bound.

Ariza’s contract is structured on a declining scale, according to Sam Amick of USA Today. He will earn $8.6MM this season, and $8.2MM, $7.8MM, $7.4MM, in the following years. Ariza could have served as a stretch four alongside Dwight Howard if Parsons was retained, but he’ll now line up at his natural position.

In 77 games with the Wizards last season, the Rob Pelinka client averaged 14.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per night. He shot 40.7% from beyond the arc, well above his career mark of 34.7%. Ariza, 29, played in Houston during the 2009/10 season.

While Ariza is a nice addition, it goes without saying that this wasn’t the summer the Rockets had in mind.

Western Notes: Miller, Bosh, Tucker, Mavs

July 14th, 2014 at 9:07pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Rockets and the Mavericks are interested in Mike Miller, reports Mark Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The Nuggets have the best financial offer on the table for Miller, but Dallas, Houston, and the Cavaliers offer him a better chance to play for a winner, tweets Stein.

Rockets Close To Re-Signing Troy Daniels

July 14th, 2014 at 5:24pm CST by Charlie Adams

5:24pm: The deal is expected to be for two years, tweets Feigen.

MONDAY, 5:14pm: The Rockets are finalizing the deal to sign Daniels today, reports Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).

SATURDAY, 3:47pm: The Rockets are in serious discussions with restricted free agent Troy Daniels about a deal that would bring the guard back to Houston, tweets Shams Charania of RealGM. Daniels lacks much NBA experience, but he’s proven in his limited minutes and D-League stints that he’s a capable three-point specialist that fits the profile of a beyond the arc sniper that GM Daryl Morey covets.

Daniels stepped into the spotlight when he hit a go-ahead three pointer late in Game Three of the opening round in the 2014/15 playoffs. He’s played only 75 minutes of regular season NBA basketball, but he’s hit 40.1% of his three-pointers in the D-League, proving he can shoot with incredible accuracy.

Charania hears the two sides are working on a deal that should be completed soon (Twitter link). Bringing back the John Spencer client would certainly stand to help the shooting of Houston, which had the fifth highest team field goal percentage in the NBA last season.

Daryl Morey On Lin, Parsons, Bosh

July 14th, 2014 at 3:19pm CST by Chuck Myron

Rockets GM Daryl Morey gambled and lost with Chandler Parsons, electing not to match a near-maximum three-year offer sheet from the Mavs when he could have simply brought him back for $964,750 had he exercised Houston’s team option on the small forward. He also missed out on Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh last week, settling for a much less glamorous agreement with Trevor Ariza. Morey took to the radio airwaves Monday in Houston to try to explain just what went wrong, and he called the structure of the Parsons offer sheet “one of the most untradeable structures that I’ve ever seen,” as we passed along earlier. Adam Wexler of CSNHouston.com and the Houston Chronicle roundup more of Morey’s remarks on SportsTalk 790 and SportsRadio 610, and we’ll hit the highlights here:

On why the team completed the Jeremy Lin trade an opened cap room:

“We had the offer to Chris, while it looked extremely likely, our deal for Jeremy [Lin] was going to go away. We had to move before we had the 100% [from Bosh], because the Lakers were ready to move on with other things.”

On the decision against matching the deal for Parsons:

“It takes three, at least, three elite players with very little exception, throughout history, it takes three elite players and a good set of players that fit around them. Once Bosh said ‘no’ it put us into another very difficult decision of, is matching Chandler Parsons, do we have a better chance of winning a title by matching it or not matching it. That comes down to a very simple question, is [James] Harden, [Dwight] Howard, Parsons a three that can be a championship three? I actually think it can be. I think Chandler is a great player, getting better. Really, really good player, no doubt. But the question is actually: is Harden, Howard, Parsons, is that three a better championship odds than Harden, Howard and the team we can put together with a guaranteed lottery pick, trade exceptions, mid-level young team improving and continuing to be flexible? That was the very tough decision before us. But I can tell you this, in our opinion it was not close. We are in a better [place] to win a championship by not matching it, once Bosh goes away than by not matching it.”

On the opportunity the team lost and what it can still accomplish:

“We felt like we were on the, right there, on having potentially having the best team in the NBA if we got Bosh and matched Parsons. We feel great about where we’re at, as well. With the youngest playoff team last year and a team that is continuing to improve with Patrick Beverley and a young core behind it and a lot of ways to continue to improve this season … We were right at the precipice of, what I would argue maybe is the best team in the NBA.”

On his expectations for the year ahead:

“We feel we were almost there with the Bosh-Parsons moves. When that didn’t happen we felt like the best thing to do was step back. We’ve now got a pick, a guaranteed lottery pick basically that is now is exactly structured like the pick that got us James Harden last time. We now have trade exceptions, we now have cap room and we also have pretty good team that’s a top four seed team in the west even with the decision not to match Chandler.”

Pelicans Likely To Waive Omri Casspi

July 14th, 2014 at 12:19pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Pelicans will likely waive Omri Casspi once their trade agreement to acquire the forward from the Rockets is complete, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com, who indicates that the swap is expected to become official on Tuesday (Twitter link). The camp for the Dan Fegan client would love to see him wind up with the Knicks, tweets David Pick of Eurobasket.com.

Casspi’s minimum salary is non-guaranteed, and it wouldn’t become fully guaranteed unless the Pelicans waited until after the August 5th to waive him, and that doesn’t appear to be an option they’re considering. It’s somewhat surprising that the Pelicans are eager to let Casspi go, since he revived a flagging career last year in Houston, averaging 6.9 points in 18.1 minutes per game. He posted a PER of just 12.9, but he was a part of the rotation for a Houston team that won 54 games. He’ll likely merit consideration for at least a fully guaranteed minimum-salary deal.

The Pelicans have been involved in a series of moves in the past few days, acquiring Alonzo Gee from the Pelicans and moving him to Houston in the trade agreement that will net the team Casspi and Omer Asik. They’re also shipping Melvin Ely to the Wizards as part of the Asik trade.

Western Notes: Blazers, Parsons, Cunningham

July 14th, 2014 at 12:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

Agent Mark Bartelstein told Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com last week that there remained a chance that Mo Williams would re-sign with the Blazers, but the door is largely closed to that possibility, leaving a disappointed Damian Lillard, as Haynes writes.

“He’s someone who I can say will be a friend forever,” Lillard said. “We got that close in a year. He’s was the one guy I wanted back the most but that’s not in my power and I understand that. We still talk and plan to link up down the road but it’s tough to know he’s not coming back.”

Still, Lillard added that he likes Portland’s additions of Chris Kaman and Steve Blake. Here’s more from around the West:

Rockets GM Daryl Morey called the structure of the offer sheet Chandler Parsons signed with the Mavs “one of the most untradeable structures that I’ve ever seen” in an appearance on SportsTalk 790 AM in Houston, as Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com transcribes.
The Rockets have reached out to Dante Cunningham, who’s still a long shot to re-sign with the Wolves, reports Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link).
The Warriors remain in touch with Jermaine O’Neal as he ponders retirement, observes Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group.
Anthony Morrow is set to join the Thunder and Brian Roberts has a deal with the Hornets, and the Pelicans went ahead Sunday and renounced their rights to both, as the RealGM transactions log shows.

And-Ones: Rockets, Gay, Livingston, Miles

July 14th, 2014 at 9:02am CST by Chuck Myron

The Rockets promised Chris Bosh that they would match the Mavs’ offer sheet for Chandler Parsons if he jumped from Miami to Houston, but when Bosh agreed to re-sign with the Heat, the Rockets changed course, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com details (All Twitter links). Houston declined to match the deal for Parsons during the three-day window that expired Sunday night, and now the Rockets are poised to turn their attention back to longtime target Rajon Rondo and find a way back into the Kevin Love sweepstakes, Stein says. Here’s more from around the league after a busy weekend:

Rudy Gay, who chose in June to opt into the final season of his contract with the Kings, said Sunday that he’s open to signing an extension but will wait to see how the team develops, as he told reporters, including Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. “If I was going to opt out, I was definitely going to look at my options on different teams,” Gay said. “But with me opting in, I’m not saying no extension is going to happen. I’m just trying to see where we’re going as a team and how we plan on getting better.”
The final season of Shaun Livingston‘s three-year contract with the Warriors is worth $5,782,450 but only guaranteed for $3MM, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. That guarantee could increase if Livingston triggers incentives, Pincus adds.
Mutual options don’t exist in the NBA, but it appears that the last year of C.J. Miles‘ new four-year deal with the Pacers will function much like a mutual option, as Pincus details (Twitter link). Pincus indicates that his salary for that season is non-guaranteed but becomes guaranteed if he’s not waived after a certain date. Presuming he’s retained, Miles has a player option for that season, according to Pincus.
Mark Deeks of ShamSports lists the contract guarantee date for Peyton Siva as having been July 12, so it appeared that his minimum salary contract would be fully guaranteed for the coming season when he remained on the Pistons roster through Saturday. However, Vincent Ellis of the Detroit Free Press (on Twitter) and Keith Langlois of Pistons.com both list the date as the 20th, so it appears that Siva’s contract remains non-guaranteed unless he’s not waived on or before this coming Sunday.
The Jazz didn’t attempt to re-sign Richard Jefferson before he moved on to the Mavs, writes Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune.