Rockets waive Shawn Long

Well, that didn’t take long.

The Houston Rockets waived their first player yesterday, before training camp even really got started, cutting power forward Shawn Long, who was due a $50,000 guarantee if he was on the roster past September 26.

The 6’9”, 24-year-old out of Louisiana-Lafayette originally went undrafted in 2016, before latching on with the Philadelphia 76ers. He spent some time in the G-League, where he played well, before being called up by Philadelphia for 18 games this past season.

Long finished with averages of 8.2 points and 4.7 rebounds, while shooting 56 percent from the field and 36.8 percent from the three-point line.

He was then traded to the Rockets this past June for cash considerations, with Houston hoping he could either compete in a packed frontcourt or be flipped in a subsequent deal. Neither situation materialized, and with Clint Capela, Ryan Anderson, Nene, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Tarik Black, Zhou Qi, Chinanu Onuaku and Isaiah Hartenstein already on the roster and looking for playing time in some capacity, there simply wasn’t anywhere for Long on the Rockets.

Long does have some potential though, so expect him to catch on somewhere and head back to the G-League for some further development.