HOUSTON, Aug. 25 -- After vowing never to return to the Los Angeles Clippers, forward Maurice Taylor ended his offseason search for a new home Friday by signing with the Houston Rockets.
Terms were not disclosed, but there were reports Taylor accepted the team's salary cap exception of $2.25 million for one year -- far less than what he and agent David Falk had been seeking.
Taylor, 23, previously was rumored to be close to signing with the Orlando Magic, New York Knicks and Seattle SuperSonics. He even went so far as to tell the Orange County Register he was signing with Orlando when the free agency period began Aug. 1.
Taylor made $1.368 million last season, his third in the NBA.
Nearly shipped to the Knicks before the trade deadline, Taylor averaged 17.1 points and 6.5 rebounds last season. He was the Clippers' 1997 first-round pick out of Michigan and was an All-Rookie Second Team selection.
When that proposed trade and others broke down, Taylor blasted the Clippers and said he would never play for them again. Falk touted his client as a player who should receive the maximum deal -- $93 million over seven years.
In Houston, Taylor will help bolster a front line that features fading center Hakeem Olajuwon and lost Charles Barkley to retirement after a devastating knee injury.
