Rockets sign Romel Beck instead of Rashad McCants

In a sudden turn of events, the Rockets have elected not to sign Rashad McCants, and instead will sign swingman Romel Beck.  This, according to ESPN's Marc Stein:

Sources close to the situation say Beck has been lined up to fill the vacancy in Houston's training camp created when the Rockets elected not to go through with their intended signing of Rashad McCants.

McCants is carrying an abdominal injury that limits his immediate availability, so Houston has opted to sign Beck -- who played for San Antonio's summer-league team -- to a non-guaranteed deal.

So McCants is gone for good, right?  Actually...

Yet Rockets general manager Daryl Morey made it clear in a statement Tuesday that signing McCants when the former North Carolina star is healthy is still in his thoughts.

"Unfortunately Rashad is still recovering from an abdominal injury that would have made it very difficult for him to earn a spot on our roster," Morey said. "We were looking forward to seeing him compete with the mix of guards we have in camp, but he simply would not have been completely healthy. We are open to taking another look at him down the line when his condition improves."

Here's what you need to know about Beck:

Yeah, that was Kobe Bryant defending.  

Something to keep an eye on, though, is Beck's ability to play team ball.  From Rotoworld:

There are concerns about Beck's ability to play a team game after he was removed from the Mexican national team during the FIBA Americas Championship.

I'll find out more on Beck and include it in the upcoming season preview, which will be up on October 7th.