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The Houston Rockets today signed Troy Daniels from the NBA Development League’s Rio Grande Valley Vipers. The signing is the 19th GATORADE Call-Up this season.
In a related move, the Rockets assigned Daniels to the Vipers, the team’s NBA D-League affiliate.
The assignment is the 133rd of the 2013-14 campaign and Daniels is the 49th NBA player to be assigned to his NBA D-League affiliate this season.
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The Denver Nuggets have acquired guard Aaron Brooks from the Houston Rockets in exchange for swingman Jordan Hamilton, Nuggets General Manager/Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly announced today.
Brooks, 6-0, 161, has averaged 11.1 points and 3.2 assists in six seasons with the Rockets, Phoenix Suns and Sacramento Kings. He also is a career .844 free-throw shooter and owns a .414 mark from 3-point range.
In 43 games with Houston this season, Brooks averaged 7.0 points and 1.9 assists in 16.7 minutes.
Selected 26th overall by Houston in the 2007 NBA Draft, Brooks was outstanding for the Rockets during the 2009 Western Conference playoffs. He averaged 16.8 points in 13 games, highlighted by a 34-point performance in Game 4 of Houston’s second-round series against the Los Angeles Lakers.
He followed his strong postseason play by averaging 19.6 points and 5.3 assists – both career-bests – in 2009-10 and was named the NBA’s Most Improved Player.
Brooks, 29, also spent the 2011-12 season playing for Guangdong in the Chinese Basketball Association.
The Los Angeles Lakers are having a rough season, with a limited roster as well as nonstop injuries, but that won’t stop Laker fans from voicing their opinions in L.A. tonight as the team hosts Dwight Howard and the visiting Houston Rockets. If you enjoy hearing boos, watch this game. Here’s the Los Angeles Times with more:
Dwight Howard knows what’s coming. Ear plugs would be a good start.
His dress rehearsal didn’t go well a few months ago at Staples Center when he was booed incessantly and his team lost badly to the Clippers. Now he faces his past in his first road game against the Lakers since spurning them last July for a four-year, $88-million deal with the Houston Rockets.
It’s easy to predict the most popular three-letter word Wednesday at Staples Center: b-o-o.
“I’m going to get a lot of boos,” Howard said Tuesday after the Rockets practiced at UCLA. “I know I’m going to hear it the whole game — ‘Coward,’ whatever.
“Thank God, this year I’ve been through it a lot in every city. There’s Lakers fans everywhere. So I think I’m a little bit prepared for it.”
Here’s the Houston Chronicle reporting the feelings of a current terrific scoring guard on a former great:
The Philadelphia 76ers announced Wednesday that 11-time All-Star guard Allen Iverson will have his No. 3 jersey retired by the franchise on March 1.
Upon hearing the news, Rockets guard James Harden said Iverson was very deserving of the honor.
“He is one of the best players, one of the best scorers I have ever watched, period,” Harden said. “He is so small but he got it done. He was a warrior.”
Good from the Houston Chronicle today on the Rockets. They don’t necessarily need Omer Asik, who was on the trading block, but no matter what, he’s certainly more valuable healthy than hurt:
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Rockets center Omer Asik, who has missed the majority of the season with thigh and knee injuries, went through Thursday’s practice and said he is feeling much better.
In response to how his knee was feeling, Asik said, “It’s close to 100 percent. I can’t say 100 percent, but it’s much better. Hopefully I will get a little bit more practice then get back on the court.”
Neither coach Kevin McHale or Asik gave an exact date for return, but McHale said it would be “sooner than later.”
Here is ESPN.com News Services reporting on the Houston Rockets and failed draft pick Royce White:
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Royce White is the NBA draft’s “worst first-round pick ever,” according to the man who picked him.
Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey selected White with the 16th overall pick in the 2012 draft, but White has yet to appear in an NBA game.
“I take some sort of pride in that you could argue that Royce White is the worst first-round pick ever,” Morey said in a Q&A discussion with Houston season ticketholders, according to the ClutchFans.net blog.
White, who is 6-foot-8, has struggled with an acknowledged anxiety disorder that would make it a challenge for him to play a full NBA season.
Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has re-assigned guard Isaiah Canaan to Houston’s single-affiliation NBA D-League partner Rio Grande Valley.
Canaan (6-0, 188, Murray State), who saw action in his first five NBA games with the Rockets in 2013-14, averaged 21.7 points, 9.2 assists and 4.3 rebounds in 12 games (12 starts) in his first stint with Rio Grande Valley this season. At the time of his recall on Dec. 23, Canaan stood second in the D-League in assists per game (9.2) and ranked ninth in the league in scoring average (21.7). He was also named along with Pierre Jackson of the Idaho Stampede as the NBA D-League Co-Performers of the Week for games played Dec. 2-8.
The Biloxi, Mississippi native was selected by the Rockets with the 34th overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft. He played in 132 career games over four seasons at Murray State, averaging 15.5 points, 2.9 assists and 2.8 rebounds. Overall, Canaan scored over 2,000 points in his collegiate career (2,050) while shooting 304-of-725 (.419) from beyond the arc. He was named Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year as a junior and OVC Co-Player of the Year as a senior. Canaan added Honorable Mention All-America honors from the Associated Press as a senior.
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The Austin Toros today announced that they have acquired center Dexter Pittman from the Springfield Armor in exchange for the Toros third round pick in the 2014 NBA D-League Draft. Kyle Hunt was waived as a result.
Pittman was selected by the Miami Heat in the second round (32nd overall) of the 2010 NBA Draft. He played three seasons with the Heat before being traded to the Memphis Grizzlies. In 48 NBA games, Pittman averaged 2.4 points and 1.8 rebounds in 7.2 minutes of play. While on the Heat roster, Pittman was assigned to the D-League Sioux Falls Skyforce (10-11, 12-13) where he averaged 13.6 points and 8.4 rebounds in 37 games played (34 starts). He participated in the 2013 NBA Summer League with the San Antonio Spurs followed by a training camp invite from the Chicago Bulls.
The 6-11, 285 pound center played four seasons at the University of Texas. He appeared in 134 games (59 starts) averaging 6.6 points and 4.0 rebounds in 12.2 minutes.
Here’s CSN Houston with an update on the Rockets:
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Several players were asked about any New Year’s resolutions they might be making this year. Dwight Howard said he makes the same one every year, he said he just wants to win a championship.
After the Rockets New Year’s Eve loss at Toyota Center to the Sacramento Kings, 110-106, thoughts in his locker room from Howard and his teammates were far from that.
“We’ve got to learn from our mistakes. This team has beaten us twice the same way and we didn’t learn from it. Until we do, we’re going to continue to lose.” Howard said. “There’s nothing to talk about anymore, everybody’s got to do their part, play defense. It starts on the perimeter. I’m not blaming it on nobody, we’ve all got to play defense better.
“We’ve got to learn at some point. As a team, collectively, we’ve got to learn how to finish these games off and start these games. Until we do, we’re going to keep losing to teams who don’t have a better record than us.”
Here’s the Houston Chronicle with a report on Rockets center Omer Asik, who has been on the trading block for much of this season:
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The Rockets were not only still without center Omer Asik – and will not have him for the immediate future at least – they were also still unsure why he has been unable to make improvement from his injury.
Asik has repeatedly been able to make strides and greatly increase workouts, but each time he seems close to being able to return, the swelling in his knee returns. The Rockets sent him for the more detailed MRI last week, but it showed no damage to the knee. They have sent those test results to another expert, hoping to get a better idea of why the problem remains so persistent.
Asik initially went out after a bruised thigh Dec. 2. Swelling developed in his knee soon after, forcing him to miss the next 11 games, an absence made an even greater issue with backup center Greg Smith also out.