The Rockets have signed 25-year old shooting guard Rashad McCants to a non-guaranteed contract. McCants played in 58 games (3 starts) for the Kings and T-Wolves last season in which he averaged 19.0 minutes, 9.6 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. He has now played in 249 games (39 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 20.2 minutes, 10.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. This was a good low risk gamble for the Rockets and McCants is a good player when healthy.

UPDATE: The Rockets have changed their mind about McCants and have not signed him. With T-Mac likely out until December I think this was a mistake by the Rockets.

The Rockets have traded 26-year old small forward James White to the Nuggets for the rights to Belgian guard Axel Harville who is playing currently for Real Madrid in Spain. White played in 4 games (0 starts) for the Rockets last season and he averaged 2.8 minutes, 1.8 points and 0.3 assists per game. The Rockets are trying to catch lightning in a bottle again like they did when they stole Luis Scola from the Spurs.

Trainer Tim Grover gained a lot of notoriety in the 1990’s for training Michael Jordan.  NBA super-stars have been flocking to the trainer ever since, and you can now add Tracy McGrady to Grover’s client list.  McGrady had micro-fracture knee surgery earlier this year, and has been working with Grover to get ready for the upcoming 2009-10 NBA season.  McGrady says he feels great and will be healthy and ready to go this year.

McGrady has been injury prone throughout his career, most often his back and knees.  Grover was quoted as saying McGrady’s “whole body was imbalanced from basically his shoulder blades down to his feet.”  He added that McGrady had almost no core strength and that had a lot to do with his back problems.  McGrady wishes he would have gone to Grover earlier in his career, stating that Grover’s workouts and rehabilitation will make you a better player and extend your career.

Tim Grover seems to know exactly what he is doing with these top-tier athletes, and if I were an NBA player (or any pro athlete for that matter) I would definitely sign up with this guy.  The Washington Wizards’ Gilbert Arenas has also been working out with Grover, and credits him for getting him back to (or even better than) the player he was before the three knee surgeries he has had in the past year and a half.  Tim Grover seems to be the answer for NBA players who are injury prone and I am looking forward to see if his training actually pays off for Arenas and McGrady.

24-year old Aaron Brooks and 23-year old Kyle Lowry will be sharing the point guard position this season for the Rockets. Brooks will be the starter and the Rockets will likely ask him to look for his own shot a lot. He played in 80 games for the Rockets last season and he averaged 25.0 minutes, 11.2 points, 2.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. Look for Brooks to average 13-15 points a game this season. Lowry is more of a pass-first point guard. He played in 77 games for the Grizzlies and Rockets last season and he averaged 21.8 minutes, 7.6 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the Rockets handle the two different styles they have at point guard. Regardless, Brooks and Lowry are a talented combo.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE POINT GUARDS IN 2009-2010: C+

The Rockets have brought in six new players this off-season and only have lost two, but, the quality of the new additions is negated by the players they lost. Trevor Ariza was the big off-season addition for the Rockets in free agency but he will be replacing Ron Artest and he’s not in that league as a player. The Rockets also signed David Andersen and Pops Mensah-Bonsu to help out the frontcourt this season. SG Jermaine Taylor, SG Sergio Llull and SG/SF Chase Budinger were all brougt in through the draft and the Rockets will likely give them minutes off the bench. The Rockets also lost SG Von Wafer who was a big part of the bench last season.

FRONT OFFICE GRADE SO FAR THIS OFF-SEASON: C

The Rockets have signed 25-year old F/C Pops Mensah-Bonsu to a 2-year deal. Mensah-Bonsu played in 22 games (0 starts) last season for the Raptors and Spurs in which he averaged 12.9 minutes, 5.0 points, 5.1 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. He has now played in 34 games (0 starts) in his two year NBA career and he has averaged 10.4 minutes, 4.1 points, 3.9 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. Mensah-Bonsu has not gotten much of a chance to play in the NBA but the Rockets will likely change that this season and he does have a nice upside.