Aaron Brooks and the Rockets have finalized their agreement, and the point guard will sign with Houston when he clears waivers, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Wojnarowski first reported earlier tonight that Brooks would likely sign with the team. Houston has a full 15-man roster, so to clear room, the Rockets will have to waive someone before the deal with Brooks becomes official.
The Kings bought out Brooks today after signing him to a two-year, $6.646MM deal this past offseason. The 28-year-old was deciding between the Kings and the Rockets this summer, tweets HoopsWorld's Alex Kennedy, but Brooks and Houston were far apart in negotiations, as Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle noted. It's unclear how much Brooks forfeited in the buyout, but he probably had to give up at least the amount of next season's $3.396MM player option, as Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors surmised.
Brooks has started 20 games for the Kings this season, but averaged just 10.9 minutes per game in February as he fell behind Isaiah Thomas and Jimmer Fredette in coach Keith Smart's playing rotation. As a result, his scoring (8.0 PPG) and assists (2.3) averages are at their lowest since his rookie season. Brooks spent that year in Houston after the Rockets made him the 26th pick in the 2007 draft, and in his third season he averaged 19.6 PPG and 5.3 APG for the team.
Houston traded him to Phoenix midway through the 2010/11 season, and he spent last year playing in China. The Suns held his rights when he returned, but they couldn't reach a deal, and this summer, Phoenix pulled its qualifying offer to Brooks, making him an unrestricted free agent.