If the Pittman signing is indeed official, it has to be out of the Casspi, Hamilton, Covington, Daniels group. Hopefully Casspi. I'd rather keep the other guys. My biggest question is, is this guy even worth cutting anybody for at this stage of the year?
Morey needs to sign a veteran SG like Mike James, so that Harden doesn't need to play 45 minutes every game.
I hope it isn't Casspi. As flaky as the dude can be, he has been with the squad since day 1 and has decent chemistry (hell, he was "replacing" Chandler last night). Outside of his athletic fastbreak defense (+/- treys), Hamilton has not been consistent.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Center Dexter Pittman, signed by the Rockets on Thursday, is expected to be released by Houston according to NBA sources.</p>— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkBermanFox26/statuses/455426517346963458">April 13, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Okay, guess it's not Casspi...
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Reports out of The Philippines are that Rockets will sign Josh Powell. Pittman's stay could be over before began. Not at game last night.</p>— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jonathan_Feigen/statuses/455426895874502656">April 13, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>A source confirms Rockets are releasing Pittman. His absence last night was conspicuous. Signed on Friday.</p>— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jonathan_Feigen/statuses/455427225412591616">April 13, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Does this mean that Pittman was waived because rockets wanted to make this move to happen or Pittman was waived because he was absent to the pelicans game?
Ha! Yes, all contracts are fully guaranteed after January 10. (I realize that you know this, as you obviously are aware of the approximate cost of signing Pittman in the first place.) Aside from any added benefit Powell can provide over Pittman on the court this season, if we are to assume that Powell's deal--like Pittman's--is non-guaranteed for next season (which I think is a safe assumption), Powell's contract will add greater flexibility to trades this summer. Whereas Pittman's non-guaranteed salary this summer would've been $981,084, Powell's will be $1,227,985. When salary-matching rules come into play, that could provide up to an additional $370k in salary-matching flexibility. You never know when you might need those extra few dollars in making trades.
