As many had feared, the season-ending Achilles injury to second-year guard Chris Clemons will likely cost veteran guard Gerald Green a roster spot, at least for the time being. News of the team’s plan to waive Green was first reported by the Houston Chronicle’s Jonathan Feigen.
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 Clemons caused his contract to become fully guaranteed. As a result, it then became very difficult to fit in a contract for Green — who was signed just prior to training camp — beneath the hard cap.
While Green played well in limited preseason minutes, he was a strong release candidate due to Houston’s abundance of veteran wing depth off the bench (Ben McLemore, David Nwaba, and Sterling Brown).
Source: Rockets to waive Gerald Green to trim roster https://t.co/JR6WioocUg
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) December 19, 2020
A native Houstonian, the 35-year-old Green could be a strong candidate to return to the team 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 off the bench.
Green could be brought back sooner if a trade to clear salary is made, such as a blockbuster involving disgruntled All-Star guard James Harden. As of Saturday, however, nothing appeared imminent on that front.
Exactly. I would be surprised if he is not back at some point. Would take other trades but there is a pretty good chance there will be one at some point. https://t.co/FqBHUlBm8y
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) December 19, 2020
