The Houston Rockets have re-signed restricted free agent K.J. McDaniels earlier Sunday afternoon. The deal is to span over three years and will pay him $10M. The agreement does not include any player options. The wing played 52 games with the Philadelphia 76ers before being traded to the Rockets for Isaiah Canaan and a second round pick.
McDaniels was drafted 32nd overall in last year’s draft and produced some decent numbers his rookie season, though his playing time diminished in Houston. In the 52 games in which McDaniels called Philly home, he averaged 9.2 points per game and received consistent playing time. He only played in 10 games with Houston last season and barely got off the bench. McDaniels has the potential to be a solid player in this league, the biggest question is is will he have enough opportunities to prove that to us.
Houston looks to be a contender once again next year in the heavily packed Western Conference. They haven’t made much noise free agency wise but they brought back starting point guard Patrick Beverly and key role bench player Corey Brewer. They did lose Josh Smith to the Los Angeles Clippers, but that shouldn’t be the biggest deal as long as bigs Terrence Jones and Dwight Howard can stay healthy through out the season. The only Houston free agent yet to make up his mind on where he’s going to be playing next season is craft veteran Jason Terry. Terry played a key role in their deep playoff run but may look to play somewhere else where he might get more run.
Locking up McDaniels for the next three years was a brilliant move by Darly Morey. If he breaks out in the coming seasons this deal could be considered a steal in the next couple years.
