Mr.Bottomtooth
11-08-2010, 05:00 PM
Free agent Dampier won’t join Rockets
Team calls off move, says Taylor remains onboard
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle
Nov. 7, 2010, 10:25PM
Less than two weeks after they agreed on a contract, the Rockets and free-agent center Erick Dampier came to a very different agreement Sunday.
The Rockets will not sign Dampier as planned, with the Rockets’ stumbling start making the short-term move no longer appealing to the team or the NBA
veteran.
The Rockets had reached an agreement with Dampier, 35, on a one-year deal Oct. 29, pending a move to clear a roster spot, most likely by trading or releasing second-year guard Jermaine Taylor who had not played this season.
But Sunday, the Rockets told Taylor, 23, they would not move him because they no longer planned to sign Dampier, Taylor’s agent Michael Whitaker said.
Rockets general manager Daryl Morey declined to comment.
“I was actually told that I’m here to stay,” said Taylor, who had six points in seven minutes in Sunday’s 120-94 win over the Timberwolves at Toyota Center. “They told me I was here.
“I’m happy to still be here and still have a job, but then again, I kind of wonder what would have happened if I went somewhere else.
“I won’t get any playing time here with guys like Courtney Lee, Kevin Martin, unless they get hurt. I kind of know if I went somewhere else, I would have had a chance to play. I have mixed feelings about it.”
Taylor, 6-4, said he regretted sending a tweet last week saying he felt he had been lied to because it was assumed to have been directed at the Rockets. He said it was meant for Whitaker, who had been telling him when he would hear news.
“I understood,” Whitaker said. “He was feeling a lot of anxiety, a lot of pressure with everyone asking him every day if he heard something. I was just telling him when the Rockets thought they would have news. It was a very difficult stretch for him.
“This is a good thing. It lets him know he’s going to be a Rocket. He doesn’t have to be concerned if he will be traded.”
Whether it will be a good change for the Rockets and Dampier is unclear. It is like so much in the season so far, with little going as planned.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/7283892.html
Team calls off move, says Taylor remains onboard
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle
Nov. 7, 2010, 10:25PM
Less than two weeks after they agreed on a contract, the Rockets and free-agent center Erick Dampier came to a very different agreement Sunday.
The Rockets will not sign Dampier as planned, with the Rockets’ stumbling start making the short-term move no longer appealing to the team or the NBA
veteran.
The Rockets had reached an agreement with Dampier, 35, on a one-year deal Oct. 29, pending a move to clear a roster spot, most likely by trading or releasing second-year guard Jermaine Taylor who had not played this season.
But Sunday, the Rockets told Taylor, 23, they would not move him because they no longer planned to sign Dampier, Taylor’s agent Michael Whitaker said.
Rockets general manager Daryl Morey declined to comment.
“I was actually told that I’m here to stay,” said Taylor, who had six points in seven minutes in Sunday’s 120-94 win over the Timberwolves at Toyota Center. “They told me I was here.
“I’m happy to still be here and still have a job, but then again, I kind of wonder what would have happened if I went somewhere else.
“I won’t get any playing time here with guys like Courtney Lee, Kevin Martin, unless they get hurt. I kind of know if I went somewhere else, I would have had a chance to play. I have mixed feelings about it.”
Taylor, 6-4, said he regretted sending a tweet last week saying he felt he had been lied to because it was assumed to have been directed at the Rockets. He said it was meant for Whitaker, who had been telling him when he would hear news.
“I understood,” Whitaker said. “He was feeling a lot of anxiety, a lot of pressure with everyone asking him every day if he heard something. I was just telling him when the Rockets thought they would have news. It was a very difficult stretch for him.
“This is a good thing. It lets him know he’s going to be a Rocket. He doesn’t have to be concerned if he will be traded.”
Whether it will be a good change for the Rockets and Dampier is unclear. It is like so much in the season so far, with little going as planned.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/7283892.html