Offseason: The Rockets sign free agent guard Michael Carter-Williams

The Houston Rockets have added a guard on the third day of free agency.

The Rockets have decided to go after some guard depth early on in this offseason. They pursued and eventually have now signed one point guard in particular.

Michael Carter-Williams has officially agreed to sign with the Houston Rockets. It was reported by Adrian Wojnarowski that MCW will be joining the team for the minimum contract.

Michael Carter-Williams has reached deal with Rockets, source tells ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 3, 2018

Carter-Williams met with the Rockets very early on in the free agency process. It was kind of confusing as to why the team was going after him, as MCW has struggled since his first few years in the league.

Last year on the Hornets, MCW averaged 4.6 points, 2.7 rebounds & 2.2 assists per game, playing around 16 minutes per game. He also shot just 33.2% overall and 23.7% from 3. Surprisingly, that’s not his lowest career percentage from deep.

Hornets writer @StrikaNation24_ tweeted some very kind thoughts to MCW now that he’s off of their roster:

MICHAEL CARTER WILLIAMS IS OFF MY TEAM MICHAEL CARTER WILLIAMS IS OFF MY TEAM MICHAEL CARTER WILLIAMS IS OFF MY TEAMMICHAEL CARTER WILLIAMS IS OFF MY TEAM MICHAEL CARTER WILLIAMS IS OFF MY TEAM MICHAEL CARTER WILLIAMS IS OFF MY TEAM MICHAEL CARTER WILLIAMS IS OFF MY TEAM

— Stri:(Adrian Wojnarowski, Shams Stri:(ania (@StrikaNation24_) July 3, 2018

Yeah…so there’s that.

Positive spin?

There must be some reason for Daryl Morey and the front office to have signed Michael Carter-Williams, right? He’s found some success in the NBA in the past, could he possibly rekindle that in Houston?

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Carter-Williams is a tall 6’6 at the point guard position and is actually a somewhat decent defender at times. He showed promise early on in his career for some serious playmaking ability, as well.

He fits the defensive scheme of the Rockets and could be able to switch onto most players. That’s one of the reasons I believe Houston went out and signed him for the minimum.

That’s another thing, it’s just a minimum contract. If it comes down to it and he isn’t contributing anything at all, the Rockets could easily just cut him and not lose too much. He will be the fourth guard behind Chris Paul, James Harden & Eric Gordon.

Also, Coach D’Antoni has always been able to make guards productive. This will definitely be a challenge for him, but it will be interesting to watch if nothing else.

Next: The Rockets must now get another star

This isn’t the ‘big move’ of the offseason, of course, but hopefully, it will get the ball rolling a bit and more pieces will start to be added to the roster.