P.J. Hairston has agreed to a training camp deal with the Houston Rockets.
Houston will have Hairston's D-League rights if he does not make their regular season roster.
Hairston played 66 games last season with the Charlotte Hornets and Memphis Grizzlies.
Hairston was a first round pick out of North Carolina in 2014.
Mike D'Antoni will make James Harden the Houston Rockets' full-time point guard.
"With James you make a joke he's a 'points guard' because he's going to score some points," D'Antoni said.
Under the new up-tempo offense, D'Antoni has decided to put the ball in Harden's hands more than last season, like a traditional point guard.
Harden set career highs in usage rate (32.5 percent) and points-per-game average (29) last season.
"He's more or less responsible giving rhythm to the team, that's what a point guard does," D'Antoni said. "He's going to be on the ball and he's going to be distributing the ball and it will take some adjusting. He's got a lot more responsibilities as a point guard. A playcaller, a good basketball mind, he's already telling guys we can do this we can do that."
Harden said he expects shooting guards to continue to guard him.
"Just a lot of trust. My teammates trust in me to make the right decision whether its scoring or whether its making a play," Harden said. "We have a lot of guys who are more than capable to create and knock down shots and that's what is going to open our floor. A lot more guys are going to get open shots left and right."
When asked if he is a point guard now, Harden joked, "No, I'm a basketball player."
Dunc'd On's Season Outlook for the Houston Rockets with Rahat Huq of Red94.net. We analyze how the Rockets will look after the acquisition of Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon, how they look without Dwight Howard, potential breakout and regression candidates, overrated and underrated players, playing time and lineup issues, key questions for success this year, and finally give our predictions for the Rockets season.
At 1:01:00, we give the same treatment to the Charlotte Hornets with Spencer Percy, managing editor of Queen City Hoops.
Host Danny Leroux (@DannyLeroux), Rob Mahoney of Sports Illustrated (@RobMahoney) and Jonathan Tjarks of The Ringer (@JonathanTjarks) break down the Southwest Division.
In the offseason review, they pick who got better and worse, discuss notable moves (9:06), choose the Southwest’s best newcomer (32:09) and pick the rookies they are most excited to see (39:13).
In the season preview, they rank the teams 1-5 (45:39), predict how many playoff teams will come out of the Central (50:31), choose breakout players (59:46) and much more.
Sponsored by Blue Apron (http://blueapron.com/RealGM)
Subscribe to RealGM Radio on iTunes or via the XML feed.
The Houston Rockets have traded Michael Beasley to the Milwaukee Bucks for Tyler Ennis.
The Rockets signed Beasley at the end of the 15-16 season after he was finished with his season in China.
Beasley will give the Bucks depth on the wing with Khris Middleton out six months with a torn hamstring.
Ennis averaged 4.5 points, 2.1 assists and 1.6 rebounds in 14.2 minutes over 46 games last season for the Bucks. Ennis was the 18th overall pick out of Syracuse in 2014.
Donatas Motiejunas remains stuck in restricted free agency with the Houston Rockets.
The Rockets made a $3.4 million qualifying offer to Motiejunas this summer that he may not accept.
"They haven't made us a serious offer," Motiejunas' agent, BJ Armstrong, told ESPN on Wednesday. "Our moment of truth will be Oct. 1. We'll make a decision on that day."
Motiejunas, who started in 22 of 37 total games last season, has met with new coach Mike D'Antoni and was told he would have a significant role with the team.
The Rockets traded Motiejunas to the Pistons at the deadline but the deal was vetoed due to Detroit's concerns about his back.
"There's only so much we can do based on the current CBA," Armstrong said. "I'm not frustrated -- this is what it is. We'll know where the Rockets stand by [Oct. 1]. All deals get done in the 11th hour."
The Houston Rockets met face-to-face with Zhou Qi for the first time.
Zhou played for the Xinjiang Flying Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association last season, averaged 15.1 points and 8.6 rebounds. He led the CBA in blocks the last two seasons. Zhou also participated in the Olympics for China.
Zhou doesn't have an out clause in his contract with the Flying Tigers to join the NBA this season.
The Rockets picked Zhou in the second round of the 2016 NBA Draft.
Houston Rockets Wiretap RSS Feed