ROCKETS NEWS
Houston Rockets agree to trade with Hawks before deadline
Feb 6, 2025, 4:50 pm
The Rockets and Hawks have made a trade. Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.
The Houston Rockets pulled the trigger on a trade with Atlanta before the trade deadline on Thursday.
According to reports, the Rockets are acquiring center Cody Zeller and a second round pick in exchange for the NBA rights to international player Alpha Kaba.
Can confirm the Rockets acquiring Cody Zeller and their 2028 2nd-round pick from Atlanta. In exchange, Atlanta is acquiring the rights to Alpha Kaba, sources tell @TheAthletic.
— Kelly Iko (@KellyIko) February 6, 2025
Reports from Yahoo Sports indicate this is basically a salary dump for the Hawks, and Houston is buying back their draft pick.
Hoopshype is reporting that the Rockets will release recently acquired Jaden Springer to make room for Zeller.
Via YardBarker:
The Pelicans re-signed Zeller last summer to use his contract for salary-matching purposes in the Dejounte Murray trade. However, he has yet to play a game for the Hawks in 24-25, having been listed as away from the team for personal reasons for much of the season.
Time will tell if the Rockets decide to release Zeller in the coming days.
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J’Wan Roberts scored 20 points, Terrance Arceneaux added 13 of his 15 points in the second half and No. 5 Houston held off Colorado 69-59 on Saturday to hand the Buffaloes their 12th straight loss.
L.J. Cryer finished with 15 points for the Cougars (19-4, 11-1 Big 12). He appeared to be shaken up late in the game.
Houston raced out to a 9-0 lead and looked on the brink of making quick work of the Buffaloes (9-14, 0-12). But Colorado took its time on offense, played tight defense and steadily chipped away.
A key moment was around the 3-minute mark when Milos Uzan was called for a travel after the horn sounded for a shot-clock violation on Colorado. It was overturned on review. Roberts proceeded to hit two short-range shots to give Cougars some breathing room.
Julian Hammond III had 22 points, including five 3-pointers, to lead Colorado. The Buffaloes have dropped 12 in a row for the first time since 2008-09.
Takeaways
Houston: Kelvin Sampson picked up his first win over Colorado as the coach of Houston. He was 14-3 against the Buffaloes while at Oklahoma.
Colorado: Colorado dropped to 1-3 against teams ranked in the top-five this season. It’s the fourth time in the AP rankings era (1948-49) the Buffaloes have faced four top-five teams in the same season.
Key moment
Colorado was hanging close when Houston's Mylik Wilson had a pivotal steal and dunk with just over 5 minutes remaining.
Key stat
Houston held an edge in rebounds (38-26), points in the paint (42-20) and second-chance points (18-7).
Up next
Houston hosts Baylor on Monday, while Colorado travels to No. 16 Kansas on Tuesday.