The Houston Rockets are waiving James Nunnally with the intention of signing Kenneth Faried, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
The Houston Rockets are waiving guard James Nunnally to create roster space for Kenneth Faried, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @WatchStadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 21, 2019
James Nunnally, who was signed to a 10-day contract on Jan. 16, was originally brought in after the Houston Rockets failed to reach an agreement on a long-term deal with Danuel House. However, with Clint Capela slated to be out 4-6 weeks as of Jan. 14, it was only a matter of time before Houston found a way to bring in frontcourt help.
Kenneth Faried is fresh off of a buyout from the Brooklyn Nets, and he will be instantly receiving meaningful minutes for the Rockets. In only 12 games with Brooklyn this season, Faried was averaging career lows across the board — a product of his incredibly limited playing time. In just 9.8 minutes per game, he was putting up 5.1 points and 3.7 rebounds.
Houston will be hoping to see Faried replicate some of the success he had early on in his career with the Denver Nuggets. In his seven seasons with Denver, Faried averaged 11.4 points and 8.1 rebounds. Though he has spent the majority of his career as a power forward, he is no stranger to playing center, where he will likely play the bulk of his minutes with Houston.
Since losing Capela, the Rockets have gone 2-1 behind a superhuman scoring run from James Harden. However, Houston is already missing his presence. In those three games, the team has been outrebounded by their opponent, 156-122.
Faried may not be able to fill Capela’s shoes in terms of rim protection, but he will be a viable quick fix in terms of rebounding. With a skillset that relies heavily on rim running, lob catching, and utilizing athleticism down low, integrating Faried into Houston’s offense may prove a fairly easy process.
As for Nunnally, the search for his next NBA contract continues after only playing two games with the Rockets.
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