In confirmation of expected news, the Rockets will not be able to bring back native Houstonian Gerald Green until next season. Houston GM Daryl Morey delivered the update in a Friday post on Reddit.
Known best for his 3-point shooting, Green hasn’t played in the NBA since injuring his foot last preseason. The 34-year-old fan favorite had what was believed to be season-ending surgery last October and was traded for salary reasons in the deal that brought Robert Covington to Houston in February. Green was subsequently released, and is now a free agent.
At the time, the widespread belief was that Green wouldn’t be able to play this season. But given the league’s multi-month hiatus due to COVID-19, the revised calendar might allow Green to recover by the time the 2019-20 campaign finally resumes in late July.
Even so, NBA rules do not allow Green to return to the team that traded him until the next league year. Some had believed that the NBA might relax that restriction this year, given the emphasis on expanded rosters amid the pandemic. But according to Morey, that is not the case.
That said, when the calendar turns to next season, it certainly wouldn’t be a surprise to see Green return to the Rockets. In two seasons with his hometown team from 2017 through 2019, the 6-foot-6 reserve swingman averaged 10.3 points (36.0% on 3-pointers) in 21.1 minutes.
If Green is healthy enough to play in this season’s restart, John Hollinger of The Athletic speculated that Indiana, Oklahoma City, or Utah could be fits. The latter two are both within a game of the Rockets (40-24) in the race for playoff seeding in the tightly packed Western Conference.
