The Houston Rockets will sign small forward Mike Harris to a contract tomorrow, according to the Houston Chronicle’s Jonathan Feigen. Harris will be on the bench for the Rockets as they seek to replace Chase Budinger in the near-term, as he is expected to miss at least a week or so to heal a sprained ankle he suffered against the Jazz on Sunday night.
Harris, who played for Rice collegiately, averaged 24.7 points and 9.7 rebounds for the Shanghai Sharks this year in the Chinese Professional Basketball League. Their season ended, and as luck would have it, the Rockets came up with an opening at just the right time.
Courtney Lee will likely start for Budinger and see a majority of the minutes at small forward. It will be interesting to see if Harris’ tenure with the club makes them comfortable enough with him to give him minutes in the rotation over Terrence Williams, who will likely be able to go on Sunday if not on Wednesday.