The Rockets' decision was somewhat surprising, as they agreed to terms with free agent small forward Trevor Ariza Saturday and were believed to have plans of playing him with Parsons. Ariza was slated to spend most of his time at the small forward spot, with Parsons often playing the "stretch four" position in which the power forward plays on the perimeter and stretches the defense with his deft shooting. Instead, Ariza will be the Rockets' small forward and it appears third-year player Terrence Jones will be the power forward.
In another unforeseen development, Ariza is now expected to come to the Rockets by way of a sign-and-trade with the Washington Wizards that also involves the New Orleans Pelicans. The Rockets will get Ariza on his four-year, $32 million deal, while the Pelicans get center Omer Asik, forward Omri Casspi and cash from Houston and the Wizards get an $8.5 million trade exception and the nonguaranteed deal of Melvin Ely. The Asik deal had been previously agreed upon between Houston and New Orleans, and the Rockets will also receive a future first-round pick from the Pelicans.
The Rockets' summer has certainly not gone as they'd hoped, as they fell short in the pursuits of LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh while agreeing to trade point guard Jeremy Lin and center Omer Asik in deals intended to create salary cap space for one of those players.
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