Scottie Pippen's brief stint with the Houston Rockets is over, just eight months after it began.
In a six-for-one deal, Pippen will be traded today to the Portland Trail Blazers, The Associated Press learned.The deal, first reported earlier this week by media outlets in Houston and Portland, will send the disgruntled Pippen to Portland for Kelvin Cato, Stacey Augmon, Walt Williams, Ed Gray, Brian Shaw and Carlos Rogers.
It's a mixed blessing for Pippen, who wanted out of Houston but would have preferred to go to the Lakers so he could be reunited with Phil Jackson, his coach in Chicago when Pippen and the Bulls won six championships.
KRIV-TV in Houston reported Friday night the deal is imminent, and two league officials, speaking on condition they not be identified, told the AP the deal will be done Saturday.
It comes just days after Pippen went public with negative remarks about the Rockets and his teammate in Houston, Charles Barkley.
The Rockets could not be reached for comment, and a Blazers spokeswoman said she had no knowledge of an impending trade. Pippen's agent, Jimmy Sexton, could not immediately be reached.
The Blazers had to give up six players in order to make the trade work under NBA salary cap guidelines. Pippen will make more than $14 million this season, and Portland had to put that amount of salaries together.
But despite parting with so many players, Portland didn't give up a starter. Pippen will join Steve Smith and Detlef Schrempf as additions to an improved Trail Blazers team that made it to the Western Conference finals last season.
The Rockets were eager to part with Pippen and his $67 million five-year contract, which still has four seasons remaining.
Pippen was somewhat of a disappointment, averaging 14.5 points and shooting just 43 percent from the field while complaining throughout the season that the Rockets' slow-down style of offense hindered his game.
Pippen blasted Barkley on Wednesday in an ESPN interview, saying he "doesn't show the desire to want to win." The attack came after Barkley criticized Pippen in August for publicly lobbying for a trade to the Lakers.
Barkley complained he had sacrificed greatly in February to make salary-cap room in order for the Rockets to acquire Pippen from the Bulls in a sign-and-trade deal.
"He's creating all this controversy just to get traded," Barkley said Thursday. "He wants to get traded so bad that he'll just say anything to make it happen."
Pippen, 34, is a seven-time All-Star and two-time Olympian who won his six titles with the Bulls as the second option behind Michael Jordan.
None of the players acquired by Houston averaged double figures in points last season.
Williams, a seven-year veteran, will be joining his fifth NBA team. The 6-foot-8 forward averaged between 10.3 and 17.0 points in his first six seasons before dropping to 9.3 last season as a reserve.
Augmon, a defensive specialist, will be entering his eighth NBA season with his fourth team. Cato, a 6-foot-11 center, is entering his third season.
Gray, acquired by Portland in the Steve Smith-Isaiah Rider trade over the summer, averaged 4.9 points for the Hawks last season. Shaw and Rogers barely played last season and might not even make the Rockets' roster for the regular season.