The Houston Rockets were in need of immediate center help for their game against the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night, so they signed Kenneth Faried to join them in time. The timing should have worked out perfectly with Houston also agreeing to trade Carmelo Anthony to the Chicago Bulls, but unfortunately it was a holiday.
The trade the Rockets and Bulls agreed to involving Anthony could not be processed on Monday, as the NBA league offices were closed in observation of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. So, rather than gaining a roster spot with the move, Houston had to cut a player to create space. James Nunnally was the odd man out.
Tough ending for James Nunnally with the Rockets, who lost his 10-day contract because the NBA's organizations, coaches and players were working on MLK Day — and the league office was closed. Rockets needed Faried on court tonight, so Nunnally had to go to create roster spot.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 21, 2019
Nunnally signed a 10-day contract with Houston last week, and he would have been able to remain on the roster if the league offices were open to process the Anthony trade. Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni was not pleased with the way things unfolded.
Mike D’Antoni is frustrated about how Houston’s roster crunch because the league office wasn’t open today to process the Carmelo Anthony trade cost James Nunnally his roster spot. “It’s not right,” D’Antoni said.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) January 21, 2019
Of course, the Rockets could make everything right by signing Nunnally to another 10-day contract after the Anthony trade goes through. The veteran guard appeared in two games with Houston and made just 3-of-13 shots from the field, and Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reports that they have not yet decided if they will bring him back.
D’Antoni is probably just frustrated that Nunnally lost his job — even if only briefly — because of a technicality. The Anthony trade was basically just a financial move for both teams, anyway, and he is not expected to remain in Chicago very long.
