Rockets to waive veteran F Maurice Harkless

The Rockets intend to waive veteran forward Maurice Harkless, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Harkless was traded three times during the offseason. The first deal saw him head from Sacramento to Atlanta as part of the Kevin Huerter deal, then he was dealt to the Thunder in a cost-cutting move that put the Hawks under the luxury tax, and finally, he was part of the eight-player trade that saw Derrick Favors land in Houston.

The Rockets have 18 players on guaranteed standard contracts, so they were facing a roster crunch because the regular season limit is 15 players. They decided that having a 29-year-old on the roster when the rebuilding club’s depth chart is already overflowing with forwards didn’t make a lot of sense, so they’re cutting Harkless’ $4,564,980 salary for 2022/23, which is fully guaranteed. Harkless will clear waivers on Thursday once the move is made official.

A 10-year veteran, Harkless has played for the Magic, Trail Blazers, Clippers, Knicks, Heat and Kings since being selected with the 15th overall pick in 2012. Known as a solid defender, Harkless holds career averages of 6.9 PPG, 3.5 RPG and 0.9 SPG on .474/.320/.624 shooting in 621 regular season games (371 starts, 22.6 MPG).