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The Houston Rockets are waiving veteran big man Ryan Anderson, as first reported Monday by The Athletic‘s Shams Charania.
The Rockets signed the 31-year-old in September to a partially guaranteed deal, but it had become increasingly clear in recent weeks that Mike D’Antoni and the Houston coaching staff did not see Anderson as a viable option.
Despite multi-game absences by frontcourt starters Clint Capela (concussion) and Danuel House Jr. (back), Anderson still didn’t receive playing time last week. Instead, D’Antoni went with frontcourt prospects Isaiah Hartenstein and Gary Clark, who had previously played for Houston’s G League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.
The Houston Rockets are waiving forward Ryan Anderson, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 18, 2019
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Any value Anderson had to the Rockets was in the form of insurance depth. But with Capela and House probable to return in Monday’s home game versus Portland, that became less important.
I thought HOU would just trade Ryno in late December when he became trade-eligible, in order to clear his entire cap hit off the books.
Instead, they will just eat his $500k cap hit before it would have started increasing next week. https://t.co/tOz5pXHqb3
— David Weiner (@BimaThug) November 18, 2019
Overall, Anderson played in just two games during the current 2019-20 season. In those, the 6-foot-9 forward averaged 2.5 points (28.5% shooting, 20.0% on three-pointers) and 3.5 rebounds in 7.0 minutes.
Anderson’s second stint in Houston was clearly less successful than his first. In 138 regular-season games (122 starts) during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons, a younger Anderson averaged 11.6 points (39.6% on three-pointers) and 4.8 rebounds in 27.8 minutes per game. However, his defensive mobility declined as the years progressed.
Anderson’s exit does open up a roster spot for the Rockets, though it’s unclear if they have immediate plans to use it. Houston currently has 14 players under standard contracts, along with prospect guards Chris Clemons and Michael Frazier on Two-Way deals.
According to Houston Chronicle beat writer Jonathan Feigen, the roster spot could ultimately be used to keep Clemons with the team once he runs out of NBA service days on his Two-Way contract. Clemons, a 5-foot-9 rookie guard, scored 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting in Saturday’s win over Minnesota.
No next move is imminent, but the Rockets are counting down toward when they will need the roster spot for Chris Clemons, who is on a two-way contract for now. https://t.co/Cqhk9EImBH
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) November 18, 2019
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