A season after the Rockets cut forward James Nunnally when the NBA would not approve a trade to clear a roster spot on Martin Luther King Day he returned to Toyota Center with the Shanghai Sharks on Monday, months after the NBA revised rules that would have allowed the kind of deal Nunnally needed last season.
The Rockets released Nunnally when they needed a roster spot to sign center Kenneth Faried. They had worked out a trade of Carmelo Anthony to open a spot for Faried, but NBA rules at the time required that the league office be notified of coming deals on the business day before weekends or holidays.