Rockets announced the acquisition of free-agent Luc Mbah a Moute

Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced that they have signed free-agent forward Luc Mbah a Moute.

Luc Mbah a Moute on his return to Houston: “I feel great. I think it’s been in the making for a while, going back to even last summer. I always felt like this was a good place for me. It was great mutual interest & when the opportunity came I was excited about coming back here.

‘’The good thing about the situation here, there’s still a lot of people that I know & I played with. Even though the team from when I was here (2017–18) is not the same, there are a lot of guys that have changed but a lot of guys on the team I’ve either played with for a while or I played against. I pretty much feel like I know all these guys or I played with them at different stages of my career. I really look forward to reuniting with them. You look from top to bottom, I think it’s maybe one or two guys I haven’t played with. So it’s very exciting.’’

Back in 2017–2018 when he was playing for the team, he was firmly convinced that they should have won:

“Very special. Last time I was here I felt like we should have won. That team we had when I was here (2017–18) was unbelievable and I feel like we can have the same chance again with this team to go out here and compete again for a title. There are a few teams that have a chance to win and I think, yeah, we are definitely one of them.. Hopefully, we get this train rolling. There’s nothing like it.’’

He is thrilled to be reunited with Russell Westbrook. They were teammates for 2 years back in college when they were with the UCLA team:

“That’s very exciting. I never had a chance to play with Russ in the league. So this is going to be our 1st time getting back together since college. This is my only teammate that I played in college with that I wanted to play in the pros with. It’s always fun. We’ve had so many great memories, Russ and I from school. Now being on the same team, it’s gonna be a lot of fun, a lot of laughs from some of the stuff we used to say. How we used to act. It’s just funny. I’m excited for sure to be back int the trenches with him.’’

He also stated that he is really proud of what Russell Westbrook has accomplished so far in his career:

“If you look at Russ, when I was a freshman he was still in high school. He used to come up & play with us. If you look at his progression from then to his freshman year and then you see his progression from his freshman to his sophomore year, he always made these huge strides. He’s had an amazing career. I’m not surprised because I know how much he worked and I know how much he improved just during the three years that I saw him in school. I knew he was gonna be great, I just didn’t know how great. I’m happy and proud of what he has accomplished so far in his career and hoping to do more with him.’’

Luc Mbah a Moute feels comfortable knowing that the Rockets are committed to playing a small-ball style:

“We kind of already played like that when I was here. Clint (Capela) was the only big guy. We had Nene at times, but a lot of times we ended up playing with PJ (Tucker) at the five when I was here. So this is not new to me. It’s just gonna be new playing with Russ. I feel like in a way we have had many sessions and games where we were small a lot of times when I was here. I am kind of used to it already a little bit. I don’t think it’s gonna be hard to adapt to. I think we have the right personnel. It can be very hard for the opposing teams. We have guys who can switch different positions and spread the floor and drive. It can be tough, but at the same time you give up something. We gotta make sure we get it together pretty quickly here, go out there and compete.’’

Back in 2017–18 season, when he was playing for the Rockets, he was averaging 7.5 points per game, 3 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 1.2 steals in 25 minutes of playing time. He was also shooting 48.1% from the field and 36.4% from the perimeter.