11:18am: Andrews expressed surprise at how the deal came undone, Berman also tweets. The Rockets are one of the teams that wants Hayes in a non-playing capacity, as Andrews reveals to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.
“I think when we came up with the agreement, after that point, they had some other activity, the Ty Lawson trade, the Jason Terry signing,” Andrews said. “That put Chuck in a precarious situation. The result of that squeezed him out of the equation. They had some cap stuff they were concerned with. We didn’t get into a lot of details. It’s a tough situation. It’s very disappointing. This is the business. These things happen. I commend them for telling us now as opposed to dragging us through camp. We’ll explore if there are other teams interested. He wants to continue to play. There’s multiple teams that want him to join his staff, including the Rockets, if that’s what he wants to do. He wants to continue to play.”
10:59am: The dissolution of the agreement appears to have rankled the Hayes camp, as comments Andrews made to Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston indicate (Twitter link). “We are extremely upset and disappointed. We know this is a business,” Andrews said.
AUGUST 27TH, 10:46am: The center won’t be signing with the Rockets after all, agent Calvin Andrews tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Andrews cited “limited roster flexibility” and “other financial considerations,” a hint that the unraveling of the deal had to do with the dilemma the Rockets face with No. 32 overall pick Montrezl Harrell. Hayes, 32, has received multiple offers for coaching and front office positions, and while he has interest in going that route eventually, he remains focused on continuing his playing career for now, Andrews said.
JULY 30TH, 11:33am: Hayes’ deal includes a partial guarantee, according to Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
JULY 29TH, 9:18pm: The Rockets have agreed to terms with free agent center Chuck Hayes on a contract, sources told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). It’ll be a one-year veteran’s minimum deal.
The 10-year veteran big man played his first six NBA seasons with Houston, and GM Daryl Morey has shown a fondness for reunions with his former players. The market for the 32-year-old was been quiet this month after coming off a season of career lows – Hayes averaged just 1.7 points and 1.8 rebounds in 8.8 minutes per game across 29 appearances. He was a starter his last two seasons in Houston.
Hayes made nearly $5.959MM in 2014/15, so he’ll be taking a significant pay cut this season.
It’s a good move for Houston. He’s a veteran leader and he’s probably the best defensive power forward on the team. He may get more playing time than people expect.
He wouldn’t help anything
Signing Harrell became more important to the Rockets than signing Hayes. It’s a tough business sometimes.