The Rockets have their eyes on making a playoff run, so they don’t have much P.T. available for their rookies. 21-year old power forward Terrance Jones has only played in 11 games (0 starts) for the Rockets so far this year and he is averaging 8.3 minutes, 3.1 points, 1.6 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. He looks like the player with the biggest upside. Especially with Royce White more likely to end up in a looney bin than on the basketball court for the Rockets this year. 22-year old power forward Donatas Motiejunas has played in 14 games (0 starts) for the Rockets so far this year and he is averaging 3.1 minutes, 1.6 points, 0.3 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game. 24-year old undrafted rookie Patrick Beverly has played in 8 games (0 starts) for the Rockets so far this year and he is averaging 11.0 minutes, 4.0 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.

30-year old SF/SG Carlos Delfino has really given the Rockets a boost off the bench so far in January. He has played in 13 games (0 starts) for the Rockets so far this month and he is averaging 26.8 minutes, 12.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.2 steals per game. He is also shooting 42.4% from three point range so far in January….which is impressive. Delfino has now played in 35 games (1 start) for the Rockets so far this year and he is averaging 25.7 minutes, 10.6 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.0 steal per game. The Rockets have to be glad that Delfino is turning into the player they thought they were getting when they signed him last summer.

SG/SF Rodney McCray was a solid player for the Rockets. He played in 405 games (361 starts) in his five years with the Rockets and he averaged 33.4 minutes, 12.5 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. His best season with the Rockets came back in 1986-87, when he played in 81 games (all starts) in which he averaged 38.7 minutes, 14.4 points, 7.1 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game while shooting a very impressive 55.2% from the floor. McCray is still #8 in offensive rebounds (955) and #10 in defensive rebounds (1,763) in Rockets’ history.

The Rockets have signed 25-year old shooting guard Terrel Harris and they have assigned him to the D-League. Harris played in 7 games (0 starts) for the Heat earlier this year and he averaged 4.1 minutes, 1.4 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. Harris has now played in 29 games (1 start) in his first two years in the NBA and he is averaging 12.0 minutes, 3.1 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. He is only shooting 34.1% from the floor, 20% from the three point line and 69% from the free throw line so far in his career. Harris will have to play well in the D-League before he gets a chance to play for the Rockets.

23-year old small forward James Harden was a star with the Thunder, but he’s now a superstar for the Rockets. Harden has played in 33 games (all starts) for the Rockets so far this year and he is averaging 38.2 minutes, 26.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 2.0 steals per game. He is shooting 44.9% from the floor, 36.1% from the three point line and 85.9% from the free throw line so far this year. He has scored at least 30 points in a game 11 times already this year, which is pretty amazing. Harden also is averaging an NBA leading 10.3 free throw attempts per game as he is fearless when driving to the basket. The Rockets finally have a star player to build around.

The Rockets have waived 22-year old rookie point guard Scott Machado. Machado played in 6 games (0 starts) for the Rockets this year and he averaged 3.5 minutes, 1.3 points, 0.2 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. Machado wasn’t about to get any P.T. any time soon for the Rockets, but they didn’t want to guarantee his contract for the rest of the 2012-13 season.

A few NBA “experts” thought the Rockets were nuts in signing 26-year old Omer Asik to a huge offer sheet over the summer. Who’s laughing now? Asik has turned into one of the best centers in the NBA this year. He has played in 31 games (all starts) for the Rockets so far this year and he is averaging 30.5 minutes, 10.4 points, 11.8 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 1.1 blocked shots per game. He is shooting 51.5% from the floor, but only 56.2% from the free throw line so far this year. The Rockets hope that Asik’s free throw shooting improves through a lot of practice, as he gets to the line quite a bit.

The Rockets have signed 23-year old SG/SF James Anderson. Anderson played in 10 games (0 starts) earlier this year for the Spurs and he averaged 9.4 minutes, 3.4 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. He has now played in 87 games (4 starts) in his first three years in the NBA and he is averaging 11.3 minutes, 3.7 points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. The Rockets hope that Anderson will be better than the recently waived Daequan Cook.

The Rockets have waived 25-year old SG/SF Daequan Cook. Cook played in 16 games (1 start) for the Rockets this year and he averaged 10.3 minutes, 3.4 points, 1.1 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. He only shot 35.6% from the floor, 36.7% from three point range and 66.7% from the free throw line this year, which is pretty pathetic. This is not much of a loss for the Rockets moving forward as Cook just wasn’t playing too well.

The Rockets have gotten next to nothing out of their rookies so far this year. 20-year old forward Terrence Jones has played in 11 games (0 starts) for the Rockets so far this year and he is averaging 8.3 minutes, 3.1 points, 1.6 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. He is only shooting 38.2% from the floor and that just isn’t going to get the job done. 22-year old point guard Scott Machado has played in only 3 games (0 starts) for the Rockets so far this year and he is averaging 3.0 minutes, 1.3 points, 0.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. 22-year old center Donatas Motiejunas has played in 7 games (0 starts) for the Rockets so far this year and he is averaging 3.6 minutes, 1.7 points, 0.6 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game so far this year. Rookie forward Royce White is about to be sent to the D-League. He has yet to play in the NBA due to mental problems. I don’t see any of these guys playing much for the Rockets unless they suffer a lot of injuries.