Report: Houston Rockets to waive Greg Smith; sign Dexter Pittman

Dec 15, 2013; Sacramento, CA, USA; Houston Rockets trainer Keith Jones tends to power forward Greg Smith (4) after dislocating his finger against the Sacramento Kings during the fourth quarter at Sleep Train Arena. The Sacramento Kings defeated the Houston Rockets 106-91. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /

After being a reasonably important member of the 2012-2013 Houston Rockets, big man Greg Smith has been mostly confined to the bench this season, and now, there is a report circulating that he will be waived by the team in order to make space to sign center Dexter Pittman.

Houston Rockets, I'm told, are in process of waiving Greg Smith to sign Dexter Pittman to rest-of-season-deal
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) April 10, 2014

ESPN’s Marc Stein reports that the 6-foot-10 Smith is on the way out, and this is an interesting move. The former Fresno State big man played in 70 games (making 10 starts) in 2012-13 and played quite well at times (16.17 PER), but he has been supplanted in the rotation by Dwight Howard (obviously) and with Omer Asik around, there was little room for his talents to grow, especially when only appearing in 8 games this season.

However, making this move to clear space for Pittman is slightly surprising. The 6-foot-11 behemoth from Texas has only appeared in two games this season (both with the Atlanta Hawks), and while he has two NBA championship rings with the Miami Heat, the career numbers are less than spectacular. Still, he looked somewhat spry in his limited time with the Hawks, and if he’s in shape, there is certainly a possibility that the forward thinking Rockets believe he is a better fit for them than Smith.

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