The Rockets have waived guard JD Davison, the team announced today.
Houston picked up its 2026/27 team option on Davison in June, but his $2,584,539 salary remained entirely non-guaranteed even after that option was exercised. As a result, the Rockets won’t carry any dead money on their cap for Davison, whether or not he’s claimed on waivers.
Davison, the 53rd overall pick in the 2022 draft, spent his first three NBA seasons on two-way contracts with the Celtics but appeared in just 36 total regular season games for Boston, averaging 5.5 minutes per contest.
Davison saw a bit more action in 2025/26 on a two-way deal with the Rockets, but still played just 7.8 MPG in 28 outings, averaging 2.5 points, 1.3 assists, and 1.2 rebounds per game on .375/.250/.684 shooting. The 23-year-old was promoted to the standard roster prior to the postseason and saw garbage-time action in a pair of playoff games.
The former Alabama guard has made a far more significant impact in the G League, particularly in 2024/25, when he earned G League MVP honors with the Maine Celtics. In 45 total NBAGL appearances that season, he averaged 25.6 points, 7.7 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 34.6 minutes per game.
As a result of waiving Davison, the Rockets have moved below the luxury tax line by a mere $14,077, tweets Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron. It’s likely no coincidence that that’s the exact amount that a player on a prorated minimum-salary contract would earn for a single day in service.
In other words, even if Houston doesn’t shed any additional salary between now and the end of the regular season, the club would be able to sign a player to a minimum contract prior to the regular season finale without going into luxury tax territory.
The Rockets’ 14 players on standard contracts include 12 on fully guaranteed deals, one (Jae’Sean Tate) on a partially guaranteed contract, and one (Isaiah Crawford) who has a non-guaranteed salary. Crawford would earn a partial guarantee if he’s still under contract to open the regular season, but if a training camp invitee such as Oscar Tshiebwe or Julian Phillips outperforms him in the preseason, Houston could swap in one of those players for Crawford without altering its cap situation.
