The Rockets, who at one point this offseason were carrying the maximum 20 players, continue to move toward paring down their roster to 15. The team has officially waived Diamon Simpson, according to a press release. The move occurred earlier in September, so Simpson has since cleared waivers and become an unrestricted free agent.
Simpson, who turned 25 this month, was signed by the Rockets near the end of the 2011/12 season to a contract that included a non-guaranteed year in 2012/13. Assuming there was no partial guarantee on Simpson's deal, the Rockets should be able to clear his minimum-salary contract from their books without taking a cap hit.
Although the Rockets released Simpson, the team also signed Scott Machado to a partially-guaranteed deal at the same time, so the team's roster count still stands at 19. By October 31st, Houston will either need to make four more cuts or make trades to reduce the roster to 15 players.