The Houston Rockets have claimed 23-year old point guard Jeremy Lin off waivers from the Warriors. Lin played in 29 games (0 starts) as a rookie for the Warriors last year and he averaged 9.8 minutes, 2.6 points, 1.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Lin only shot 38.9% as a rookie last year. The Rockets are very deep at point guard with Kyle Lowry, Goran Dragic and Jonny Flynn ahead of Lin on the depth chart.

UPDATE: (12/27/2011) - The Rockets have waived Jeremy Lin and he has been claimed by the Knicks.

30-year old center Yao Ming has decided to retire from the NBA after all of the injuries he has suffered. Yao played in 5 games (all starts) with the Rockets last year and he averaged 18.2 minutes, 10.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 1.6 blocked shots per game. He played in 486 games (476 starts) in his 8 years with the Rockets and he averaged 32.5 minutes, 19.0 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.9 blocked shots per game. He retires in 10th place in Rockets’ history in games played with 486 of them. He is also #4 in rebounds (3,261), #2 in blocked shots (920) and #6 in points (9,247) in Rockets’ history.

The Rockets have exercised their team option on 25-year old point guard Goran Dragic’s contract, so he will return to them in 2011-12. Dragic played in 22 games (3 starts) last year for the Rockets after coming over from the Suns in the Aaron Brooks deal and he averaged 17.2 minutes, 7.7 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists. Dragic played in 70 games (5 starts) overall last year and he averaged 17.6 minutes, 7.5 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. Dragic has now played in 205 games (8 starts) in his first three years in the NBA and he is averaging 16.6 minutes, 6.8 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. It was a smart move for the Rockets to bring Dragic back for the 2011-12 season.

The Rockets picked 22-year old, 6′10″, 215 pound power forward Chandler Parsons with the #38 overall pick. They then traded him to the Timberwolves as part of the Jonny Flynn deal. The Rockets then sent cash to the Timberwolves to send Parsons back to the Rockets. Parsons played in 36 games for the Florida Gators last year and he averaged 34.1 minutes, 11.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. He played in 4 years in college and he averaged 27.9 minutes, 10.2 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. Parsons gives the Rockets another big body to help up front.

The Rockets acquired 20-year old, 7′0″, 222 pound power forward Donatas Motiejunas who was playing in Italy, as part of the Jonny Flynn deal with the Timberwolves. Motiejunas was taken by the Timberwolves with the #20 overall pick. Motiejunas played in 46 games for two teams last year in Europe and he averaged 26.3 minutes, 12.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 1.6 steals per game. He has played in 148 games in four years in Europe and he averaged 23.7 minutes, 12.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 1.4 steals per game. If Motiejunas stays motivated (and I think Kevin McHale will be able to), then the Rockets will have a nice player.