NBA News: Houston Rockets sign Ryan Anderson on a partially guaranteed contract
Free agent power forward Ryan Anderson signed a partially guaranteed contract with the Houston Rockets, returning him to the team that he played for from 2016 to 2018 as both a starter and a reserve. The deal is for one year with $250,000 guaranteed and another $250,000 if he makes the roster on opening night.
The 31-year-old Anderson has never been known as a defensive stopper, and his rebounding is average at best. But Anderson does one main thing as a big man and does it well: shoot the three. That fits Mike D’Antoni’s system perfectly well. For his career, Anderson has shot .380 from the three-point line, hitting over 1,300 treys in 11 years. He also is an excellent free-throw shooter, at 85.4 percent. He has career averages of 12.4 points and 5.3 rebounds.
In the 2017-18 season, he was the starter at power forward for much of the season for the Houston Rockets, but late in the year, he suffered an ankle injury. He never fully recovered or reclaimed his spot in the rotation by playoff time. When he played spot minutes against the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals, he was a liability on both ends, making him virtually unplayable.
During that series, he was also frequently targeted when finding himself on a switch defensively. The following offseason, he was dealt to the Phoenix Suns, who would later deal him to the Miami Heat.
After only playing a total of 44 minutes in 10 games, the Heat used the stretch provision on his contract, waiving him to make room for Jimmy Butler, and he would become an unrestricted free agent. At 6'10 and 240, Anderson will be the backup for P.J. Tucker at power forward, and has enough size to back up Clint Capela as a “stretch 5”.
With veteran center Nene out for training camp, and his familiarity with D’Antoni’s system Anderson is likely to slot into the rotation immediately. With the addition of Russell Westbrook who will be teaming up with friend and former Thunder teammate James Harden, shooters like Anderson will be key, because of the attention that those two superstars will command from defenses.
Several of the Rockets are happy to have him back, including small forward Eric Gordon, who also played with him with the New Orleans Pelicans.