Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey has been busy this offseason.
The Rockets traded point guard Kyle Lowry to the Toronto Raptors on Thursday, a person familiar to the trade told USA TODAY Sports. The person requested anonymity because he was not authorized to talk publicly about the deal until it is official.
The Rockets will send Lowry to the Raptors for forward Gary Forbes and a future protected first-round pick.
Lowry, 26, was mentioned in trade reports before the NBA draft as the Rockets tried to acquire enough assets to trade for Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard. Lowry, who averaged 14.6 point and 6.6 assists last season, told the Houston Chronicle in May that he was unhappy playing for Rockets coach Kevin McHale.
"If things aren't addressed coaching-wise, I guess I have to be moved," he said.
Forbes, 27, averaged 6.6 points last season.
The trade comes two days after the Rockets offered restricted free-agent Jeremy Lin a four year, $30 million contract. But the New York Knicks have the opportunity to match and likely will. The Knicks and veteran point guard Jason Kidd are working on a deal as well, ESPN's Marc Stein reports.
The Rockets lost point guard Goran Dragic on Wednesday to the Phoenix Suns. If New York matches Houston's offer, the Rockets won't have many options left at the point guard position.
They do have an overload at forward, though, after drafting Royce White and Terrence Jones and trading for Forbes, Jon Brockman and Jon Leuer this offseason. The Rockets' roster already included forwards Luis Scola, Chandler Parsons, Patrick Patterson and Marcus Morris, plus 2011 first-rounder Donatas Motiejunas, who played in Poland last season.
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