Royce White traded to Philadelphia 76ers to clear space for Dwight Howard

For all the talk of how much space the Rockets had cleared to sign Dwight Howard, even after Howard had agreed to come to Houston, they were still a bit short. Friday night, Morey fixed that, sending former first round pick Royce White to the Philadelphia 76ers in a cap clearing move.

Adrian Wojnarowski got back on the wagon after falling behind on the Dwight Howard news, reporting the trade first on twitter:

Houston has traded Royce White to Philadelphia, league sources tell Y! Sports.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 6, 2013

For the Rockets, White was nothing more than a distraction, not suiting up for a single Rockets game and dancing in and out of the D-League lineup for various reasons. He publicly criticized Rockets management, concealed a number of reservations he had until after signing his contract, and all in all was a giant disappointment. And Morey, as he has done so well in the past, disposed of his mistake as soon as it was reasonably possible.

In essence, this deal is nothing more than a salary dump, with Philadelphia picking up some cash and potentially a second round pick to hold onto a contract for a year, but Philadelphia will also get a chance to give White a shot on the floor. Good luck with that. I'm no NBA coach, but I don't know where you put a guy who can't defend a single position, struggles to finish, can't shoot, and whose only discernible skills are that he has a great handle and can pass well for a 6'8" player. White may finally get on the floor in his second season, but expect him to be out of the league 12 months from now when his contract expires.