Carroll, Green to provide experience after forwards sign expected deals
The Rockets will begin the post-All-Star break schedule on Thursday with reinforcements.
Veteran forwards DeMarre Carroll and Jeff Green are expected to agree to sign with the Rockets as soon as Tuesday to fill the team’s remaining open roster spots.
Green, who had been a teammate of Rockets players James Harden, Russell Westbrook and Thabo Sefolosha with the Oklahoma City Thunder, has been a free agent since he was waived by the Jazz on Dec. 24.
Green will initially sign a 10-day contract with the Rockets, a person with knowledge of the agreement said.
Carroll, who played just 15 games with the Spurs this season and played five games with the Rockets in 2010-11, had reached an agreement on a buyout with the Spurs. ESPN first reported the Rockets were frontrunners to sign Carroll.
“I don’t know what went wrong, what happened,” Carroll told the San Antonio Express-News of failing to
carve out a role in San Antonio after signing as a free agent last summer. “I felt like San Antonio was going to be a great place for me, for my talents, but it didn’t work out.”
In his previous two seasons with the Nets, the 6-6 Carroll averaged 12.3 points in 27.7 minutes per game, making 35.8 percent of his 3s. An 11-year veteran, Carroll, 33, has long had a reputation as a strong, versatile defensive player with his best seasons in 2013-14 and 2014-15 with the Hawks.
The 6-8 Green would be viewed as another rangeshooting center option with the Rockets. A 13-year veteran, Green, 33, has averaged 13 points on 33.3 percent 3point shooting in his career. He averaged 7.8 points while shooting 32.7 percent on 3s with the Jazz this season.
Green is one of the active players, along with the Nets’ Kevin Durant, to have played with the Seattle SuperSonics. Westbrook was drafted by the Sonics, but the team moved to Oklahoma City before he could play in Seattle.