Houston Rockets Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Rockets Waive Thon Maker, Markquis Nowell

October 14th, 2024 at 4:12pm CST by Luke Adams

OCTOBER 14: Maker and Nowell have been waived, Spotrac contributor Keith Smith tweets. They’ll both likely wind up joining the Rockets’ G League club.

OCTOBER 1: The Rockets are signing big man Thon Maker and guard Markquis Nowell to Exhibit 10 contracts, according to Kelly Iko and Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The deals are official, the team confirmed in a press release.

The 10th overall pick in the 2016 draft, Maker appeared in 263 total regular season games for the Bucks, Pistons, and Cavaliers from 2016-21, but hasn’t been on an NBA roster since being cut by Cleveland in January 2021. The 7’0″ center played for Hapoel Jerusalem in 2021, the Fujian Sturgeons in China from 2022-24, and Al Riyadi Beirut in Lebanon this spring.

Maker, 27, averaged 4.6 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 0.7 blocks in 13.8 minutes per game during his five NBA seasons, posting a shooting line of .435/.327/.680.

A 5’7″ point guard, Nowell spent most of last season on a two-way contract with the Raptors after going undrafted out of Kansas State in 2023. He appeared in just one NBA game for Toronto before being cut in March, but played for the Raptors 905 before and after his release, averaging 14.4 PPG, 8.7 APG, 3.1 RPG, and 1.9 SPG in 22 games (31.9 MPG) for the G League club. His shooting line was .411/.366/.781.

The Rockets had a pair of openings on their 21-man training camp roster, so no corresponding cuts were necessary to bring Maker and Nowell aboard.

While Houston also technically has an open spot on its projected 15-man regular season roster, Maker and Nowell seem more likely to end up playing for the Rockets’ G League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. The Vipers acquired Nowell’s returning rights in a four-team trade this week. If Maker and Nowell are waived by Houston and then spend at least 60 days with Rio Grande Valley, they’d earn Exhibit 10 bonuses worth up to $77.5K.

Rockets Notes: VanVleet, Sheppard, Sengun, Trade Targets

October 12th, 2024 at 3:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Rockets hold a $44.9MM team option for next season on Fred VanVleet, but the veteran guard seems to be preparing for a long stay in Houston, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Feigen notes that VanVleet recently bought a house and moved his family to the city and now considers himself a “Houstonian.”

“I didn’t come here to be a rental,” he said. “I didn’t come here to be a free agent (again). I came here for a long-term home. I’ve loved my time here so far. I think I have a good understanding with management and the coaches about what the future looks like with this team. The business will always take care of itself. I don’t really get too concerned with that stuff. That stuff will work itself out. But I think my family and I will be in Texas. I came here for a home, and I think I found one.”

VanVleet spent his first seven NBA seasons in Toronto before the Rockets lured him away last summer with a three-year, $128.5MM offer. According to Feigen, it’s the largest deal ever signed by an undrafted player, which is a testament to how far VanVleet has come since his rookie season. The experience of having to build up a reputation from scratch helps him to identify with teammates who are in that position now.

“Every last one of them, I have a great relationship with all the guys,” VanVleet said. “There’s a lot more of us than there is … stars in the league. The rest of the guys are trying to figure it out. I can always relate to those guys. I always tell the story I was a side-hoop guy. I was the guy shooting on the side with no coaches. I was rebounding with myself. I always keep that in mind.”

There’s more from Houston:

Lottery pick Reed Sheppard is getting a crash course in point guard play during his first NBA training camp, Feigen adds in a separate story. After Friday’s practice ended, VanVleet assembled Sheppard, Jalen Green, Amen Thompson and big men Alperen Sengun and Steven Adams to work on pick-and-roll execution. When that was over, Sheppard and VanVleet did extra work alongside the team’s assistant coaches. “Oh, it’s been awesome,” Sheppard said. “You know, being out here every day, competing, learning from a lot of the guys, especially Fred. He’s been unbelievable to me, talking to me on and off the court. I mean, he’s just helping me with everything. Any questions I ask, he’s answering and giving details about them and just being there for me whenever. And all the all the guys are. It’s not just Fred. Everyone’s been extremely, extremely good and helpful.”
During his time with the Celtics, Ime Udoka had an elite floor-spacing big man in Al Horford, and he’s hoping Sengun can develop into that role, per Kelly Iko of The Athletic. Sengun only shot 29.7% from beyond the arc last season on 1.8 attempts per game, but Udoka believes he can improve. “He has the touch and the shot,” Udoka said. “It’s more of a mentality to look for those shots and not pass them up.”
The Rockets are hoping to eventually trade for a star whose timeline fits their young talent, rather than focusing on older players, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon said on the latest Hoop Collective podcast (hat tip to Ben DuBose of Rockets Wire).

And-Ones: 2025 Draft Big Board, Tanking, NBAGL Trade

October 10th, 2024 at 7:01pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Now through June 2025, writers across the globe will eagerly anticipate an exciting upcoming draft class headlined by Duke forward Cooper Flagg, alongside other top talents. Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo of ESPN recently paired to provide an early look at the top 100 prospects before the college season tips off (Insider link).

Flagg ranked first, but Rutgers guards Ace Bailey (No. 2) and Dylan Harper (No. 3) aren’t far behind. Baylor’s VJ Edgecombe (No. 4) and France’s Nolan Traore (No. 5) remain among the top options as well, while Duke’s Kon Knueppel (No. 6) is an early riser after an impressive offseason and preseason.

UNC’s Drake Powell, Duke’s Khaman Maluach, Spanish guard Hugo Gonzalez and UConn’s Liam McNeeley round out the remainder of the top 10.

Collin Murray-Boyles is the draft’s highest-ranked returner after making the decision to come back to South Carolina, with the ESPN duo ranking him at 12.

We have more from around the basketball world:

The top five of Sam Vecenie’s recent mock draft for The Athletic matches ESPN’s big board to a tee, with Brooklyn being slated to be the ones to land Flagg’s services in June’s draft. However, Vecenie’s mock draft deviates from there, with Illinois’ Kasparas Jakucionis coming off the board at No. 6 due to his ball and scoring skills. Vecenie mocks Georgia’s Asa Newell to the Hornets at No. 7 and Ratiopharm Ulm’s Ben Saraf at No. 8 to the Raptors, while ESPN has those players at No. 31 and No. 16, respectively.
With such a talented draft class on deck, The Athletic’s John Hollinger suspects teams will return to tanking in 2024/25. While some teams greatly underperformed in 2023/24, as in any year, there wasn’t as much incentive to lose since there wasn’t a consensus top pick like in next year’s draft. Hollinger likens the 2025 class to the 2018 class that produced the likes of Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Brunson and Trae Young in terms of the depth of talent. Hollinger’s story addresses this, but I’d contend that while teams may be blown away by the talent of the 2025 class, the Hawks had a better record than nine teams but still landed the No. 1 overall pick. Meanwhile, the Pistons had their worst season in franchise history but didn’t pick until No. 5.
The Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Houston’s G League affiliate, executed a six-team trade on Wednesday, per the team (Twitter link). Several picks swapped hands, but for simplicity’s sake, we’ll focus on the player rights that were moved. The Vipers acquired the returning player rights to Jermaine Samuels, who is currently in camp with the Rockets. The Valley Suns acquired Cassius Stanley‘s rights, the Indiana Mad Ants (Pacers) received Dakota Mathias‘s rights, the Memphis Hustle (Grizzlies) got both Malachi Smith and Devin Cannady‘s rights, the Mexico City Capitanes obtained Loudon Love, and Gary Clark‘s rights were re-routed to the Wisconsin Herd (Bucks). Mathias was already signed and waived by the Pacers, so this is an indication he’ll play for the Mad Ants this season as an affiliate player. It remains to be seen whether Stanley, Smith, Cannady or Clark will sign camp deals to be later waived and set up as affiliates. The Capitanes aren’t an NBA team’s direct affiliate, so while Love could still sign anywhere as an NBA free agent, his rights being moved aren’t directly correlated with him potentially being an affiliate player.

Southwest Notes: Eason, Wembanyama, Paul, Irving, Ingram

October 10th, 2024 at 2:14pm CST by Tristan Tucker

After a promising rookie season in which he played all 82 games, Rockets forward Tari Eason played just 22 times in his sophomore season due to a leg injury. Now, Eason is reestablishing his value this preseason, Jonathan Feigen of Houston Chronicle writes.

Eason, when healthy, is an integral part of the Rockets’ present and future. A strong defensive-minded wing, he holds averages of 9.4 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 104 career games. The preseason minutes Eason is receiving represent his first NBA action since Jan. 1.

“I don’t think there were too many jitters just because this is my third year, and I try not to overcomplicate things,” Eason said. “The anticipation was real, but I don’t like to say jitters or nerves. When you spend your time worrying, I think that affects performance. So, I try not to worry too much, be as comfortable as possible, trust myself, trust my game, trust my work.”

Eason projects to be a key reserve for the team alongside other young players like Amen Thompson (if he isn’t promoted to the starting lineup), Reed Sheppard and Cam Whitmore.

“For me, it was just trying to figure out a way to fit in as well as possible with that second unit,” Eason said. “[I’m] just figuring it out.”

We have more from the Southwest Division:

The Spurs signed NBA legend Chris Paul this offseason, but Victor Wembanyama was blunt in his assessment of where the team stands. According to San Antonio Express-News’ Jeff McDonald, Wembanyama cautioned that flashy plays like lobs are among the first things opposing teams think to guard. That connection looked ahead of schedule in San Antonio’s Wednesday preseason game against Orlando, but Paul agreed that fundamentals need to be the first focus of synergy. “The game is tough,” Paul said. “A lot of people think it’s just going to be lob, lob, lob. But there’s a lot of regular, fundamental basketball we’ve got to play to hopefully at some point get to that.“
Kyrie Irving helped lead the Mavericks renaissance that culminated in them reaching the NBA Finals last season. In an extensive interview with The Athletic’s Sam Amick, Irving spoke on several Mavs and personal topics, including how he’s feeling content with a veteran role in Dallas. “I used to think leadership is just this lonely, lonely, lonely thing, and it’s not,” Irving said. “It’s literally surrounding yourself with great-minded people, great-hearted people, and being able to ask them to push you at times when you’re not able to push yourself.“
Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram won’t make a preseason appearance until the finale next Tuesday against the Rockets, NOLA.com’s Christian Clark tweets. Ingram is out for undisclosed reasons until then. “He’s fine,” head coach Willie Green said.

Rockets Notes: Sengun, Adams, Green, Trades

October 9th, 2024 at 5:48pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Rockets centers Alperen Sengun and Steven Adams could join forces to serve as one of the NBA’s top center tandems in 2024/25, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Backup big man Jock Landale may also compete for minutes at the five, but as long as Sengun and Adams stay healthy, it seems likely that either the rising star or the longtime starter will be on the court most of the time.

“We’re pretty bloody solid,” Adams said. “The boys here are pretty good. That’s more on paper. We haven’t played a game. It doesn’t matter how it looks on paper. Whoever is the most connected is going to be the most deep team.”

As Feigen notes, the Rockets as a franchise have a long history of Hall of Fame big men to their credit. Feigen notes that Sengun was approaching possible All-Star status during his 2023/24 breakthrough season and has room to get better this year.

There’s more out of Houston:

Suiting up for his first game in almost seven months, Sengun displayed the kind of growth Houston insiders and fans have no doubt been hoping for, writes Feigen in a separate story. Sengun appears to have added catch-and-shoot triples to his arsenal. During the team’s 122-113 preseason defeat against the Jazz, he showed off a speed and activity level heretofore unseen in his play, Feigen observes.
Rockets shooting guard Jalen Green thrived last year after Sengun went down in March with an ankle injury. Feigen writes in another article for The Chronicle that Houston believes his late-season surge is sustainable over the long run. Green credits film sessions with Rockets coaches, which kicked off last December, for helping him realize how to hone his game best. “I think it will make it a lot easier to pick up where I left off,” Green said. “It’s more about what I have do: play defense, rebound. Like I’ve been saying, being able to contribute to the team besides just scoring.”
The Rockets boast plenty of young assets, future draft picks, and veterans on solid-but-movable contracts. Houston could be the league’s most intriguing trade team this season, opines Michael Pina of The Ringer. Pina notes that the Rockets could go in any number of directions — they may look to package some young pieces for a franchise-changing deal or could swap out some veterans for more youth and draft equity.

NBA GMs High On Thunder’s Offseason Moves, Celtics’ Title Chances

October 8th, 2024 at 9:40am CST by Luke Adams

The Thunder made the best roster moves during the 2024 offseason, according to the NBA’s general managers. Within his annual survey of the league’s top basketball decision-makers, John Schuhmann of NBA.com writes that 37% of his respondents picked Oklahoma City as having the best summer, with the Sixers coming in second place at 33%. The Knicks got 20% of the vote share, while no other club received more than a single vote.

It was one of many favorable outcomes in the survey for the Thunder, who were overwhelmingly selected as the team with the best young core — 60% of GMs selected OKC, compared to 20% for the second-place Magic.

New Thunder guard Alex Caruso was chosen by general managers as the most underrated offseason acquisition, receiving 23% of that vote share, while last year’s Most Valuable Player runner-up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was picked as this year’s MVP favorite (40%), narrowly edging Mavericks star Luka Doncic (30%).

The Thunder also received a handful of votes from the league’s GMs as the team that will win the 2025 NBA Finals, but at 13%, they finished a distant second to the Celtics, who earned a whopping 83% of the vote. Besides those two clubs, only the Mavericks (3%) received a vote to become this season’s champions.

Here are a few more interesting results from Schuhmann’s GM survey, which is worth checking out in full:

New Sixers forward Paul George got 60% of the vote as the offseason acquisition who will have the biggest impact in 2024/25, followed by new Knicks Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns at 13% apiece. The Towns trade, meanwhile, was named the most surprising offseason move, eking out George leaving Los Angeles for Philadelphia (27% to 23%).
Unsurprisingly, Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama was the overwhelming choice (77%) for which player the GMs would most want to start a franchise with. Gilgeous-Alexander and Nuggets center Nikola Jokic each earned three votes in that category, while Doncic got one.
The league’s general managers are high on No. 3 overall pick Reed Sheppard — the Rockets‘ guard is their pick to win the Rookie of the Year award (50%) ahead of betting favorite Zach Edey of the Grizzlies (30%). Sheppard also comfortably received the largest vote share (43%) when the GMs were asked which rookie will be the best player in five years. Spurs guard Stephon Castle (17%) and Hawks forward Zaccharie Risacher (13%) were the runners-up in that category.
There was no consensus among the GMs on which 2024 draftee was the biggest steal. Wizards guard Carlton Carrington, Kings guard Devin Carter, Pacers wing Johnny Furphy, Lakers forward Dalton Knecht, Timberwolves guard Terrence Shannon, and Thunder guard Nikola Topic each received three votes to lead the way.
Among newly hired head coaches, Mike Budenholzer of the Suns is the one GMs feel will have the biggest impact on his new club. Budenholzer received 40% of the vote, beating out Kenny Atkinson of the Cavaliers and J.B. Bickerstaff of the Pistons (20% apiece). Meanwhile, Spurs guard Chris Paul (30%) and Raptors guard Garrett Temple (20%) are the active players that GMs feel would make the best head coaches down the road.
Asked what they’d change about the NBA, 20% of GMs said the rules related to the tax aprons, trades, and roster construction are too restrictive and/or should be “indexed to (a) team’s market,” per Schuhmann, making it the top response.

Southwest Notes: Edey, Rockets, Branham, Wesley, Williamson

October 6th, 2024 at 5:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Zach Edey, three-point shooter? The former Purdue big man only attempted two shots beyond the arc during his illustrious college career and made one. But the Grizzlies don’t want their lottery pick to feel like he’s restricted to the paint as a pro. He participated in a three-point shooting contest during an open practice on Sunday and showed a good stroke.

“When it’s opportunities to be out on the perimeter, whether it’s trailing the play or he just so happens to kind of move himself out there, I want him to feel like he’s got the green light,” said coach Taylor Jenkins, per Damichael Cole of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. “I don’t want to restrict him by any means. I want to see what he’s capable of.”

We have more from the Southwest Division:

The Rockets will play two preseason games in three days, facing the Jazz on Monday and Thunder on Wednesday. They’re viewing those contests as a measuring stick to see how much progress they’ve made during training camp, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. “I just want to go out, play hard, win, win the preseason games and get good momentum going into the season,” Jalen Green said. “The same way we’re playing here, we have to go out and play there.”
The Spurs have an Oct. 31 deadline to pick up the contract options on guards Malaki Branham and Blake Wesley for the 2025/26 season. Wesley admits the pressure is on to perform well in training camp — if those options aren’t picked up, he and Branham will be looking at free agency next offseaason. “Everybody knows it’s a contract year,” Wesley told Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News. “We’re trying to win, trying to get better. There’s a lot of pressure.”
After losing starting center Jonas Valanciunas in free agency, the Pelicans didn’t bring in an obvious replacement. New Orleans will employ smaller lineups, mainly with Zion Williamson as the de facto center, quite often this season, Christian Clark of the New Orleans Times-Picayune writes. “The fact of the matter is we are going to have a ton of games where we don’t have a traditional center on the floor,” coach Willie Green said. “That’s going to happen. We have to get accustomed to playing that way for a good bulk of the game.”

Southwest Notes: Grimes, LaRavia, Sheppard, Castle, Barnes

October 5th, 2024 at 9:15am CST by Tristan Tucker

The Mavericks acquired young guard Quentin Grimes this offseason, providing him with a change of scenery that brings him closer to his hometown of Houston, Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News writes. Grimes believes his skill set can help a Dallas team looking to head back to the NBA Finals.

“I feel like with the unselfishness and the amount of freedom everybody has, I’ll be able to show more like how I did in New York,” Grimes said. “Whenever somebody was down and injured, I was always able to show more of my offensive game.”

Grimes has a history of helping playoff teams. In his second season in the league with the Knicks, he averaged 11.3 points per game while making 66 starts. In his nine playoff appearances, he started six games and helped New York reach the second round. However, injuries and inconsistent shooting led to Grimes being traded from New York to Detroit, and he was rerouted again to Dallas this offseason.

The Mavericks got plenty of help on the wing this offseason, adding Klay Thompson and Naji Marshall alongside Grimes. Curtis writes that Thompson has taken Grimes under his wing through training camp and that the former could serve as a model for the latter.

“I’ve been trying to talk his ear off the whole time,” Grimes said of Thompson. “I shoot with him almost every day after practice. He’s just been a really good mentor for me, just telling me little things about my shot and how to get easier shots off pin-downs. They call it the ‘Klay action’ for a reason. Just learning from one of the greatest shooters to play is going to only elevate my game.”

We have more from the Southwest Division:

Grizzlies forward Jake LaRavia has been one of the primary standouts of training camp, Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal writes (subscriber link). The Wake Forest product was part of an up-and-down 2022 Grizzlies draft class that also included David Roddy, Kennedy Chandler and Vince Williams. LaRavia didn’t play many minutes his first season and didn’t dress much at the beginning of 2023/24, but he played 28.5 minutes per night across his final 24 appearances last season, averaging 14.1 points and making 36.4% of his 5.5 three-point attempts per game.
Fred VanVleet was a common draft comparison for what Reed Sheppard could do in the NBA, so it’s only fitting that the two ended up on the same team. Now, as Jonathan Feigen of Houston Chronicle writes, VanVleet is serving as a mentor for the Rockets‘ rookie. “He was talking the whole time, just encouraging me,” Sheppard said. “He’s been great. A great leader and a great role model, for sure.“
Spurs rookie No. 4 overall pick Stephon Castle is turning heads this summer, Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News writes. “He never gets rushed or sped up or anything,” teammate Tre Jones said. “He goes at his own pace.” Chris Paul was also complimentary of Castle’s demeanor and how he was coached in college.
Harrison Barnes has been at the center of the Spurs‘ chemistry-building efforts this offseason, according to The San Antonio Express-News’ Tom Orsborn. He’s been organizing dinners with the team and trying to lead younger players by example. “Camaraderie off the court feeds into how we play on the court,” Barnes said. “Guys have been great communicating with the group chat and with dinners we have done. That is going to bode well for us down the line.“

Eight Teams Who Could Emulate Hornets As Trade Facilitators

October 4th, 2024 at 9:10pm CST by Luke Adams

The new rules in place this season for NBA teams operating above either tax apron dictate that those clubs are prohibited - in most cases - from taking back more salary than they send out in a trade.

That restriction will make it difficult for two teams operating above the apron to make a trade with one another, but the Knicks and Timberwolves provided a blueprint with this week's Karl-Anthony Towns blockbuster for one way it can happen -- find a third team to take on some extra salary.

In the Towns trade, the Hornets acquired approximately $6.8MM in salary from the Knicks without trading away any themselves, which allowed both Minnesota and New York to send out more salary than they took back in the deal. Charlotte received three second-round picks - two from the Knicks and one from the Wolves - for their troubles.

That's not the only way for two apron teams to trade with one another, but it's the most straightforward path, particularly in bigger deals like the Towns one. With that in mind, it's worth considering which teams around the NBA are the best candidates to be the next Hornets, acting as facilitators in deals involving two clubs facing apron-related restrictions.

There are essentially three characteristics that make a team an ideal candidate to be a third-party facilitator in this sort of trade:

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And-Ones: 2025 Draft, Snell, G League, Garuba, Parker

October 2nd, 2024 at 12:53pm CST by Luke Adams

The 2025 draft class is stronger at the top than 2024’s class was, according to Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Insider link), but there still isn’t a clear-cut No. 1 pick in this group like there was in 2023 with Victor Wembanyama.

Cooper Flagg has long been viewed as the best bet to be next year’s top pick, but that’s not yet a lock, Givony writes, putting the odds of the Duke forward coming off the board first at just slightly above 50%. Rutgers wing Ace Bailey is Flagg’s top competition at this point, per Givony, who has Bailey’s odds of going No. 1 at 25%. Rutgers guard Dylan Harper, Baylor guard VJ Edgecombe, and French guard Nolan Traore are also in the mix for the first overall spot, Givony adds.

“I’m going into this year with an open mind about who the No. 1 pick might be,” one NBA executive told ESPN. “This is how mistakes are made: getting anchored to an opinion and then closing yourself off to new, much more important information that we’ll be receiving in the coming months seeing how the season plays out.

“I need to see if Cooper Flagg is indeed a No. 1-type offensive option who can be expected to carry a team at some point in his career, or if he’s more of a superstar role player who is better suited as your second- or third-best player. Every year there are surprises, new players pop up and others take an unexpected leap.”

Mock drafts from last fall illustrate that potential for in-season surprises. ESPN’s November 2023 mock had Isaiah Collier first overall, Ja’Kobe Walter fourth, and Reed Sheppard 25th — they were eventually drafted 29th, 19th, and third, respectively.

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Nine-year NBA veteran Tony Snell, who last played in the NBA during the 2021/22 season, will join the Sioux Falls Skyforce in the G League this fall, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. The Heat‘s affiliate will need to acquire Snell’s returning rights from the Maine Celtics, the team he played for last season. Snell won’t be signed to Miami’s preseason roster at all, notes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (Twitter link).
The Rio Grande Valley Vipers (Rockets) traded Jarrett Culver‘s G League returning rights to the Osceola Magic in exchange for Jared Butler‘s rights, per the Vipers (Twitter link). Culver is with Orlando on an Exhibit 10 contract, so it appears he’ll play for the Magic’s G League team this season. Butler remains under contract with the Wizards and would need to be waived and sign an NBAGL contract for Houston’s affiliate to take advantage of his rights.
Speaking to Eurohoops’ Javier Molero and Alex Molina, respectively, former NBAers Usman Garuba and Jabari Parker expressed that they’re comfortable no longer playing in the league. Garuba, who returned to Real Madrid this summer after three seasons with Houston and Golden State, said his NBA experience wasn’t quite what he expected and that he’d be “more selfish” if he were doing it all over again. “I left as a kid and grew up,” said Garuba, the 23rd overall pick in the 2021 draft. “I had a lot of ups and downs and learned a lot of lessons over there. I got traded, I got cut, I saw a lot of things, the dark side of the business. I think that made me mature a lot as a player.”