Collison, who played with the Rockets in the disastrous 2013-14 season, is back for his second tenure with the team after being dealt to Golden State in the deal that sent DeMarcus Cousins there in exchange for Andre Iguodala and Victor Oladipo. Collison is expected to be the backup at point guard to James Harden, replacing Patrick Mills. Collison is a better all-around player and still has an exorbitant career three-point percentage of 45.3%.
Rodney Hood is another player who steps into the role as a specialty shooter. Playing 82 games with the Clippers and Nets, he racked up averages of 9.4 points and 4.4 rebounds a game as a rookie, and shot 55% from the paint and 43% from the 3-point line. He vows to improve his defense and shoot even better on threes as a sophomore.
The rookies Lalanne and Kilpatrick are very aware that they are unlikely to crack the Rockets' rotation this season, and have both requested to play a lot against D-League competition. "All I want to do is ball," said Kilpatrick. "It's a little disappointing not to get CSL court time right away, but me and Cady know that the Rockets are gunning for the title this year harder than ever, and that the coaches can't afford to play us every game since we're just rookies. But if we ball out enough in the D-League, then I think we'll find ourselves in the rotation by the end of the season."
The addition of Spencer Hawes will allow the Rockets to play Kenneth Faried more minutes at the power forward position this season. A career 10/8 player, the Rockets know they will get some toughness inside and some interesting offensive production.
The biggest disappointment of the offseason however, was the falling through of part of the sign-and-trade deal, in which Spencer Hawes, along with 3rd year wing Roy Devyn Marble, would be dealt to the Pacers for forward Terrence Jones, who previously briefly played with the Rockets in their CSL debut season. "We really, really wanted Jones here", said an irritated GM BizGilwalker.
"We felt that Jones would fit very well with our roster of long athletic defenders. Also Spencer Hawes had his hopes up that he'd be within a reasonable distance of President Obama's Chicago home so that he could display his Obama toilet paper in first person. Needless to say, he's a bit let down too. But he's here to ball."
Roy Devyn Marble didn't take kindly to the trade either, reportedly tweeting that he felt "disrespected" and that he would "play twice as hard next season to prove himself to a team that wanted [him]". However, both Marble and BizGilwalker both insisted in interviews that there were no hard feelings and that they "are not actively seeking a trade".
The Rockets are about $1.4M below the 2nd tier of luxury tax, but hinted that they may make one more veteran minimum signing before the end of free agency to bring their roster to 13 players, but there have been no talks or offers yet.
