Apparently, Courtney Lee was involved in a car crash following the Houston Rockets 97-84 win over the New York Knicks last night. Here's what he wrote on his twitter at 2:41 am:

Thanking God right now!!! Thanking Cadillac for airbags!! Without them I could have lost my life tonight and two others close to me.

Via Jonathan Feigen, this wasn't incidental contact.

"The other driver ran a red light doing like 100 mph," Lee said via a text message on Sunday.

Heavy stuff. Please, if you're out driving late at night, try to avoid smacking Courtney Lee (or anyone, for that matter) with your car. The Rockets' bench requests his presence at all times.

Lee is averaging 9.3 points per game this year. He's been a crucial key to the Rockets' success and remains a valued two-way commodity as a wing stopper with explosive hops and three-point range. Glad to hear he's OK.

UPDATE! Photos of the accident, via SB Nation Houston.

The Rockets have decided that they prefer cap space to having any of their '09 Lottery acquisitions' services next year. The Chronicle's Jonathon Feigen has more:

The Rockets have told each of their four lottery picks from the 2009 NBA Draft – Hasheem Thabeet, Jonny Flynn, Terrence Williams and Jordan Hill – they won’t be picking up the fourth-year option on their rookie contracts, a person with knowledge of the talks said.

As I said earlier this week, this should be unsurprising. Flynn, Thabeet, and Williams all seem unlikely to live up to their 2013 options, while Hill's rebounding was not so spectacular (or scarce). More importantly, this move likely gives them enough room to make a max-contract offer to one of this summer's free agents (Dwight Howard or Deron Williams). Both Feigen and Fox26's Mark Berman report that this is likely the Rockets' thinking:

"I was a little surprised," Bradbury said of the Rockets' decision. "His body of work this year in my opinion would merit picking up his option, but at the same time the way (Rockets general manager) Daryl (Morey) explained it, they're trying to clear all of the cap space they can to go after a max contract.

"The disallowing of that trade (with Lakers, Hornets) hurt them and they're trying to figure out a way to do what's best for the Rockets."

Remember that cap space is also a massive boon when attempting to trade for a free agent, since teams under the cap can simply absorb contracts (up to the cap level, of course). Maximizing cap flexibility seems like a decidedly better move than keeping Jordan Hill around for another year, regardless of if he can solidify his gains in rebounding and iron out his offensive problems.

Does this mean the Rockets will get Dwight Howard (or, ugh, Deron Williams)? Of course not. But it does mean that the Rockets can make an offer, which is more than most other teams (the Lakers, for instance) can do. And even if they swing and miss on Howard (or, ugh, Deron Williams), cap flexibility is probably better than paying Jordan Hill $3.6 million next year.

Rockets guard Kyle Lowry has been charged with one count of misdemeanor battery for actions that took place during the NBA lockout. Here's a snippet from FOX Houston's Mark Berman:

According to the charges, the allegations stem from a basketball game Lowry was playing in between NBA players on Sept. 22, 2011 in Las Vegas. The female victim, Infini Robinson, was one of the referees in the game.

The declaration of warrant/summons said, "At the end of the game, Lowry approached the victim and threw a basketball at her striking her in her torso. The victim picked up the basketball and tossed it back at Lowry. Lowry became upset and stated, 'B****, meet me outside. I will kick you're a**'."

The warrant goes on to allege that after Lowry walked away, Robinson went to the designated area for officials to change shoes and clothing, and she was hit with a basketball at a high rate of speed.

I know what you're thinking. Somehow, Charlotte Bobcats forward Corey Maggette has got to be involved.

Also according to the warrant, Charlotte Bobcats forward Corey Maggette apologized to Robinson on behalf of Lowry and that Lowry also approached Robinson and said, "I'm sorry. I truly apologize for what I did. I let my emotions get the best of me."

Lowry won't appear before a court until February 2nd. If Lowry is convicted of the charges, he faces up to six months in the Clark County detention center.

I'm no legal expert, so I won't dive into those details. But from a fan's perspective, I think we've all come to expect nothing but professionalism from Lowry, which makes this all the more surprising. At the same time, we all want Lowry on the court and out of jail, so to play to that notion, I'll say this: If Donte Stallworth can kill someone with a car and end up playing football the next year, you'd have to think Lowry will be able to escape jail time for a misdemeanor battery charge. Take my uninformed opinion for what it is, a guess.

We'll have more as it unfolds.

Update! See below.

Another update! See below.

If you can't get one Gasol, why not go for the other?

The Houston Rockets have reportedly entered into talks with the Los Angeles Lakers and the New Orleans Hornets in a bid to swing a three-way deal that would land Houston center Pau Gasol and send Chris Paul to Hollywood. It's only a possibility among hundreds of other possibilities, but holy jumping Jesus Christ, if Houston pulls this off without trading Kevin Martin or Kyle Lowry, I do declare this a winner by all accounts.

The news comes straight from Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix:

Piggybacking off @sam_amick tweet, Lakers/Rockets/Hornets discussing a deal that would send CP3 to LA, Pau to Houston ... Rockets, sources say, were hot after Nene. Rival execs believe he is headed back to Denver at a max or close to max deal. Houston sees Gasol as the next best option.

By referring to Gasol as Houston's "next best option," I believe Mannix means Houston sees a trade as a backup plan to outright signing a free agent. Gasol is clearly the better player of the two, but if Houston lands Nene, they get a good center without giving up any talent. Gasol will give Houston the star center they've been missing, but he'll come for a price that shouldn't be short of steep.

The Rockets do have a number of draft picks they can swing, plus some trade exceptions and some good young talent. I'd LOVE to see a Gasol/Scola frontcourt, but my guess is that if this deal gets done, we kiss Scola goodbye.

My question, for now: Can Houston land Gasol at a price befitting to New Orleans? After all, they're giving up Paul, and unless Los Angeles throws Lamar Odom in their direction, the brunt of the returns may come from Houston. Trading Scola and draft picks alone shouldn't be a viable option for New Orleans, lest they find themselves with horrible options otherwise.

More to come as it emerges. Keep in mind: Gasol is on the books for four more years. That's a nice contrast to a one-year CP3 rental plan.

Update: How much do you want Gasol?

Continue reading this post »

Update: Source tells Ken Berger the Rockets "have no plans" to amnesty Terrence Williams.

Update 2: See bottom of the post.

It's no secret the Houston Rockets want free agent center Nene Hilario. That news has been reported like, thirty times.

Thing is, the Denver Nuggets have represented a major roadblock in Houston's pursuit. The Nuggets are currently screwed due to a number of quick overseas decisions made by a few key players, and now face a season without Wilson Chandler or Kenyon Martin. As such, many expected the Nuggets to toss buckets of money in Nene's direction and perhaps slot him at the four next to Chris Andersen to make up for size deficiencies.

Throw a wrench in that plan, Denver. CBS Sports' Ken Berger says Nene wants out of Denver and that six teams have gauged interest, Houston included.

Later in the article, Berger discussed Houston's chances:

Continue reading this post »

Attention, all lockout victims and patron saints of neglect and misery: After 149 days, I think we're back.

The NBA and the NBA Players Association have tentatively reached a deal that will reportedly put in place a 66-game season, set to begin December 25. 

Here's the tweet from CBS Sports' Ken Berger that got everyone out of bed at 2:30 in the morning.

The Dream Shake's 2011-2012 Houston Rockets Season Preview

NBA Free Agency Guide

Free agency and training camps will start December 9th, according to David Stern. How u.

I'm excited, of course. Every single one of you should be excited. The NBA has returned, at last. How refreshing it is to say: The NBA has returned, to distract us from weeknights filled with homework, papers, work, extended family, Robot Chicken and other countless time-wasting units.

At the same time, there's this little voice inside of me that doesn't want me to be happy. I'll title this voice as "Reason," because by all means, we should all be PISSED and we shouldn't forget it. These negotiations were a long-running joke, and for now, this "deal" appears to be a merely a placeholder for a missed punchline.

And yet, we'll take it. We'll take a shortened season, we'll take a valued commodity and we'll not only take it, but we'll welcome it with open arms. We have no choice, because what are we going to do, remove ourselves from it completely? Yeah, fat chance. We know everything. We're diehard NBA fans. We can't let anyone else pick up the slack. We hold the slack, for ourselves and ourselves alone, and everyone else can go watch hockey.

Adjust to renewal as best you can. We'll do the same as the season approaches. I'll post my typical shenanigans. AK will have previews. Someone will have a recap, hopefully. Dave will update you on South Park and other important basketball topics. We'll all be back, I think.

(Make sure you go read elsewhere, too. Especially Jason Friedman over at Rockets.com. He's been scrounging for article ideas for quite a while.)

You know, I can't decide upon the true origin of my excitement: Is it the basketball itself, or is it the feeling of officially being back here once again? I've missed this place. It's always fun. I can't say that about many places.

So, at last, we can talk about basketball, and I don't even care about the bad. The bad still exists, whether or not we'll initially realize it. Hasheem Thabeet still has less coordination than a map written by a four-year-old with the shakes. Terrence Williams still prefers a front-rim miss from behind the arc over a well-timed drive to the basket. Kyle Lowry is still just 98% perfect. There are still flops, still bad calls. Basketball, like any sport, has its flaws. But forget those, if you can. We'll get used to them again later, once all of the other system issues have been worked out.

For now, let's have some more fun, you guys.