Rockets plan to ‘figure out a way’ to bring back Gerald Green

Stephen Silas: “We’re going to figure out a way if he doesn’t get picked up by somebody else for him to be a Rocket, which he should be.”

Referring to it as a “numbers game,” Houston head coach Stephen Silas said after Sunday’s practice that the Rockets are planning to bring back recently waived swingman Gerald Green this season, if at all possible.

“He’s still going to be part of the family, obviously,” Silas said. “We’re going to figure out a way, if he doesn’t get picked up by somebody else, for him to be a Rocket, which is what he should be.”

The Rockets are subject to a hard salary cap after the offseason sign-and-trade acquisition of Christian Wood, and the season-ending injury to Chris Clemons caused the second-year guard’s contract to become fully guaranteed. It then became difficult to fit in a contract for Green — who was signed just prior to training camp — beneath the hard cap.

“Gerald’s in the hearts of all of us,” said veteran teammate PJ Tucker, who played alongside Green with the Rockets during the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons. “It’s never fun when brothers get released.”

A native Houstonian, the 35-year-old Green is clearly a strong candidate to return later in the season, once the pro-rated amount of a minimum salary becomes low enough to fit under the hard cap.

However, it’s certainly possible that Green played well enough in the preseason to receive a contract from another team before Houston is able to offer one. In two exhibitions, Green averaged 11.5 points (50.0% on 3-pointers) and 4.0 rebounds in 13.7 minutes per game.

Prior to Clemons’ injury, it appeared that Green’s performances had put him on course to make the roster of his hometown team.

“For someone to be here for two weeks and become one of my favorite players of all-time — who I didn’t know before I came here — he’s like everything you want,” Silas said from Toyota Center on Sunday. “He’s ready. He has ability. He came into games and was effective. Listen, it’s just like a numbers game, really, and hopefully, he gets an opportunity to come back here to play, or whatever.”

“Everything we are about, Gerald Green is,” Silas added. “It was a sad day to sit with him yesterday. Rafael [Stone] and I sat down with him yesterday and told him the deal, and he was nothing but professional, complimentary, just like Houston ‘til he dies. That was one of the harder things I’ve had to do since I’ve been head coach, to waive him.”

Stone issued the following statement on Saturday night, which is a very unusual step for an otherwise standard waivers announcement.

“Gerald is a truly exceptional human being that is beloved by our organization, the City of Houston and Rockets fans all over the world,” Houston’s GM said. “He has given us so much on the court during his time with the Rockets, but we’re even more proud of the impact he’s had in the community. When Houston was hit its hardest by Hurricane Harvey, Gerald did whatever he could to help those in need. Gerald is all heart, and he will forever be a part of the Rockets family.”

The team clearly hopes, however, that Green can return in an official playing capacity later in the NBA’s 2020-21 season.

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