The Rockets are currently allowed to have up to 20 players under contract. That limit will be reduced to 15 once the regular season begins. While Troy Daniels does now take up one of the Rockets' 20 permitted roster spots (they now have 18 players under contract), they will most likely cut Daniels in about a week or so. By cutting Daniels, the VIPERS (as the single-affiliate D-League team of the Rockets) will hold exclusive D-League rights to Daniels, meaning that he will not have to go through the NBADL Draft and can join the Vipers outright for this season. The same is true for B.J. Young and Jordan Henriquez. The Rockets did almost the exact same thing last year with Reeves Nelson. After he was waived by the Lakers during training camp, the Rockets claimed Nelson off waivers, only to cut him five days later. They did this in order to get Nelson onto the Vipers. Hope that explains things for you.
Williams played well against Orlando. Covington has not yet made a three in preseason. He would be on my list somewhere up there.
Both Brewer and Brooks have outplayed Canaan, Williams and Covington. And Smith and Camby have been MIA so far this preseason. And I agree that Daniels, Williams and Camby would be the 3 cuts at this time. But Rockets are in win now mode so they to balance their development needs versus players that can contribute immediately. I think even Canaan could be expendable.
Most college shooters have no problems with the NBA 3-point line. The only part of the arc that is farther than any NCAA range, is the top of the key 3, and that's less than 3 feet away. I'm more concerned about what Daniels does if his defender closes out on him. Can he create off the dribble ? Does he have midrange game or finish layups around the rim ?
You're welcome. One minor clarification to my prior answer, however: The Vipers will not hold EXCLUSIVE D-League rights to Young, Henriquez and (presumably) Daniels. They will essentially have a PREFERENTIAL right ("first crack") at each player. If the Vipers (for whatever reason) weren't interested in signing those players, it's not like they could prevent them from going elsewhere. In that event, they'd just go into the General Player Pool for assignment to other D-League teams. I know it's probably a minor nuance, but it bothered me that I misspoke earlier.
This signing has nothing to do with a trade. We need a backup for Harden; preferably one who can shoot.
