Reserving a spot for Westbrook? The Rockets officially announced the release of Davidson: freeing up a roster slot and perfectly avoiding the luxury tax.

The Rockets made an official announcement on August 6, Beijing time, stating that they have cut guard JD Davidson. This transaction helps the team open up a roster spot while also reducing their payroll to under the luxury tax line. Earlier reports indicated that Russell Westbrook might consider a return to Houston, but only if he were to take a veteran minimum contract.

The Rockets exercised Davidson's team option for the 2026-27 season in June, but even after exercising that option, his $2,584,539 salary remained completely non-guaranteed. Therefore, regardless of whether Davidson is claimed by another team, the Rockets will not have any dead money on their salary cap.

Davidson was the 53rd pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. He spent his first three seasons in the NBA with the Celtics on a two-way contract, appearing in only 36 regular-season games and averaging 5.5 minutes per game.

In the 2025-26 season, Davidson joined the Rockets on a two-way deal and saw more playing time, but still only played 28 games, averaging 7.8 minutes per game. He shot 37.5% from the field, 25.0% from three-point range, and 68.4% from the free-throw line, contributing 2.5 points, 1.3 assists, and 1.2 rebounds per game. The 23-year-old guard was promoted to the active roster before the playoffs and appeared in garbage time during two playoff games.

The former University of Alabama guard performed much better in the G League, especially in the 2024-25 season, when he won the G League MVP while playing for the Maine Celtics. That season, he appeared in 45 G League games, averaging 34.6 minutes, 25.6 points, 7.7 assists, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game.

Salary cap expert Gozlan noted that after waiving Davidson, the Rockets' payroll is exactly $14,077 below the luxury tax line. This number is no coincidence; it is exactly the daily salary of a player on a prorated minimum contract. In other words, even if the Rockets do not clear any more salary from now until the end of the regular season, they could sign a minimum-salary player before the final game of the season without touching the luxury tax.

The Rockets currently have 14 players under standard contracts: 12 are fully guaranteed, Jae'Sean Tate is partially guaranteed, and Isaiah Crawford's salary is non-guaranteed. If Crawford remains on the team at the start of the regular season, his contract will convert to partial guarantee. However, if training camp invitees such as Oscar Tshiebwe or Julian Phillips outplay Crawford during the preseason, the Rockets could replace Crawford with one of them without affecting the team's current salary cap situation.