The Houston Rockets were involved in some trade rumors last week, with some outlets tying them to J.R. Smith, and they made some corresponding small moves that were letting off some possible smoke signals that there might be some truth to these rumors.
They waived Danuel House and assigned big man Isaiah Hartenstein to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in the G-League, causing some to speculate that a deal was imminent leading up to Friday, December 7. But the Rockets instead announced on Thursday that they were using House’s roster spot to convert Gary Clark’s two-way deal into a regular three-year contract, and then utilizing the suddenly-open two-way deal to bring House back to the team.