Category: Houston Rockets

James Harden out against Sacramento Kings with ankle injury

Staff

From Joseph Zucker of B/R: Houston Rockets star James Harden will not play Saturday against the Sacramento Kings because of a sprained right ankle, according to Mark Berman of Fox 26. While Harden has primarily made headlines for his reported trade request, he is off to another dominant start this season in Houston. In three games for the 1-2 Rockets, the 2018 NBA MVP is averaging a league-best 37.0 points per game to go along with 11.0 assists and 5.3 rebounds. Last season, Harden averaged a league-high 34.3 points per game—the third straight season in which he was…

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Daryl Morey fined $50k for violating anti-tampering rules

Brandon King

Philadelphia 76ers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey was fined $50,000 by the NBA for violation of the league’s anti-tampering rule. The fine stems from a now-deleted December 20 tweet in which Morey celebrated the one-year anniversary of James Harden breaking the Rockets’ all-time assist record. While on the surface the tweet, which Morey later said was sent out mistakenly via an automated application, may seem innocuous but steps into the realm of tampering due to the Harden trade demand/speculation has Philadelphia as a potential landing spot. This is not…

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Wednesday’s Rockets and Thunder game postponed

Staff

From ESPN: The Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thundergame for Wednesday night has been postponed, the league announced. The NBA said three Rockets players have returned tests that were either positive or inconclusive for coronavirus under the NBA’s testing program. In addition, four other players are quarantined at this time under the contact tracing protocol. Contact tracing protocols caused the Rockets to send home three players Wednesday after rookie teammate Kenyon Martin Jr. returned a positive coronavirus test and needed to be tested again for confirmation, sources told ESPN. John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins and Martin were…

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John Wall amongst Houston Rocket players sent home while team traces COVID-19

Brandon King

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, John Wall and s few other Houston Rockets players were sent home Wednesday due to another teammate testing postive. To be clear, Wall himself tested negative , but the tracing stems from rookie Kenyon Martin , Jr, who is “not with the team, self isolating”, per the team’s injury report. It is reported that John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and Martin Jr were amongst a group of Rocket players who were at an apartment away from the team facility getttting haircuts. This is apparently what lead…

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Rockets exploring three-team deal to move Harden

Brandon King

From Tim Daniels of B/R: The Houston Rockets reportedly want to make a James Harden trade “sooner than later” and continue to expand discussions beyond the eight-time All-Star’s list of preferred destinations. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Friday on Get Up the Rockets have started to explore three-team deals as part their effort to “maximize value:” The Brooklyn Nets, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers lead the group of contenders Harden would prefer to join, per Shams Charania of The Athletic. Harden doesn’t have a no-trade clause in his contract—they’ve become exceedingly rare in the…

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Rockets head coach Stephen Silas still not sure when James Harden will return to team

Brandon King

From Michael C. Wright at nba.com: Rockets coach Stephen Silas pointed out Monday his team has spent 80% of their practices focusing on defense, but 100% of that training camp time has elapsed without star guard James Harden, leading to a murky situation in Houston. Silas cited the NBA’s COVID-19 protocolsfor Harden’s absence Sunday from the team’s first training camp workout, but on Monday the coach expressed ambiguity regarding the star guard’s status. “He’s not here, and he has a reason,” Silas said. “But that’s on him to tell whoever what…

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Russell Westbrook traded to Washington for John Wall and first rounder

Brandon King

From Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN: The Washington Wizards and Houston Rocketshave agreed to trade two disgruntled star point guards, John Wall and Russell Westbrook, in a blockbuster deal, sources told ESPN. The Wizards are sending Wall and a lottery-protected 2023 first-round pick to the Rockets for Westbrook in a deal that both players wanted and had been simmering for weeks, sources said. Discussions had been stalled since mid-October, sources said, until the two general managers, Washington’s Tommy Sheppard and Houston’s Rafael Stone, decided to get on the phone Tuesday afternoon. They worked out a deal within…

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Rockets and Demarcus Cousins closing in on one-year deal

Brandon King

From cbssports.com: DeMarcus Cousins is nearing a one-year deal with the Houston Rockets, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania. Cousins will be paid the minimum on a non-guaranteed deal to play for a Houston team currently in line to pay the luxury tax for the first time under Tilman Fertitta. He missed the entire 2019-20 season recovering from a torn ACL, which came after injuries to both his quad and Achilles in his previous stints with the Golden State Warriors and New Orleans Pelicans, respectively.  The move appears to mark the end of Houston’s micro-ball experiment.…

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