The Rockets could provide the Knicks with some additional 2010 cap space by taking on Eddy Curry.

Daryl Morey, according to a source, would be interested in discussing a Tracy McGrady for Curry ($10.5M) and Cuttino Mobely ($9M, 80 percent) swap.

Ron Artest's agent David Bauman said Yao Ming's condition has not changed his clients desire to return to the Rockets next season.

"Our first choice is to do a deal with Houston, Bauman said. Yao's situation doesn't change that. It has not affected us one way or another.

"He's concerned more for Yao than anything."

Bauman said that he and Artest are confident that if Yao does miss much or all of next season, the Rockets have the depth and roster flexibility to make moves without stepping back to rebuild.

"The beauty of what Daryl (Morey, the Rockets general manager) has done, is the Rockets are not just Yao Ming," Bauman said. "They are Ron. They are Aaron (Brooks). They are Shane (Battier) And they are (Luis) Scola. That's the great thing about this team. They can fire on five or six different cylinders."

Ron Artest will become a free agent in a few hours, and it's possible that Yao Ming's foot injury could affect his decision to return to the Rockets.

Artest considered Houston a championship contender last month when he said that he hoped to return to the Rockets.

David Bauman, Artest's agent, declined to comment on whether or not Yao's injury will have an impact on his client's decision.

Yao Ming could miss the entire 2009-10 season and his career could even be in jeopardy, according to a report from Yahoo!

?The realization has hit them that this is grave,? one NBA general manager said.

The Rockets have privately told league peers it could be a full season before Yao might be able to return to basketball. Multiple league executives, officials close to Yao and two doctors with knowledge of the diagnoses are describing a troubling re-fracture of his navicular bone. Three pins were inserted a year ago, but the foot cracked in the playoffs and isn?t healing.

?It sounds like he?s missing most of next season, if not the entire 82 games,? one league executive who has had recent discussions with the Houston front office told Yahoo! Sports. ?That?s all that [the Rockets] will concede quietly, but they know it?s probably much worse.?

Daryl Morey declined comment on the story on Monday.

The Rockets will announce an agreement to take over the basketball operations of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA Development League, making the Rockets the first NBA team to adopt the league?s new ?single affiliate partnership model.?

The Rockets have had an association with the Vipers since the 2007-08 season, serving with other NBA franchises as an affiliate. By gaining control of the Vipers? basketball operations, the Rockets can be assured that players they assign to the Development League team will put in the role and system they choose. The Rockets will have as much say as they wish about everything from the coaching staff and offensive philosophies to playing time.

?I think all these things create a competitive edge ? which is Mr. (Leslie) Alexander?s main goal and my goal ? for the Rockets,? Rockets general manager Daryl Morey said. ?We think it?s a pretty good competitive edge. We can run our stuff. We can put someone down there we think can be a future player development coach and see him in action. We can get a stronger sense on the players, their personality, how well they?re coached. None of those things are huge advantages, but we think it is a good advantage.?

Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News reported that the Wolves turned down a deal with the Houston Rockets that would have resulted in Aaron Brooks and Shane Battier headed to Minnesota for Ricky Rubio.

Real Madrid on Sunday exercised their option on the contract of Sergio Llull, who on Thursday was drafted by the Denver Nuggets with the 34th pick in the 2009 NBA Draft and then was traded to the Houston Rockets.

The move by Madrid will keep the guard under contract for two more years.

Llull averaged 6.9 points and 2.2 assists in 19 Euroleague games and 8.6 points and 2.7 assists per game in the Spanish League.

The Rockets bought the draft rights to Jermaine Taylor from Washington for a reported sum of $2.5 million, according to a report by Yahoo.

Taylor was the 32nd overall pick out of UCF.

Detroit will trade the rights to Chase Budinger to the Houston Rockets for a future 2nd round pick and cash, sources tell Yahoo!.

Rockets GM Daryl Morey told the Houston Chronicle that teams have been "very aggressive" in their pursuit of Tracy McGrady, and unlike last summer, Morey is listening intently.

One such scenario floated by the New York Post, has McGrady, Aaron Brooks, and Carl Landry going to Phoenix for Stoudemire and Leandro Barbosa.

According to CBSSports.com, it is a dubious scenario considering the Suns' long-held reluctance to trade Barbosa.