Rockets close to an agreement with Royce White to return to team

Rookie forward Royce White is close to returning to the Rockets and to reporting to their D-League affiliate.

In a call in to a morning show on 97.9 The Box, White said he plans to report to the D-League on Feb. 11, pending “paper work” on a plan with the team.

According to a person with knowledge of the plan, the Rockets are close to making an announcement in which White would return to the team under a written agreement that includes key elements of the protocols that White wanted to have as an addendum to his contract.

Under the agreement, writing with input from the NBA and the NBPA, White would resume workouts to prepare for the D-League assignment. He had been working out for several days this month with basketball staff intern Derrick Alston but was suspended Jan. 6, one week after he said he would refuse his assignment to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Rockets general manager Daryl Morey said White was suspended “for refusing to provide services as required by his Uniform Player Contract.”

Morey would not comment on any plan with the team. When told of White’s comments on Wednesday, Morey said, “We’re in constant communication with Royce and hope to get him back in the fold soon.”

White seemed optimistic that the agreement would be in place shortly.

“The resolution, when I say we’re in the 12th hour, what I literally mean is we’re in the 12th hour ..  .. any hour now this thing will be over,” White said. “I’m supposed to be returning to the D-league on February 11. That was the plan. We’ll see if it finally goes through but last thing I heard was that’s what we’re going to do, that’s what we’re planning to do. Waiting on everybody to get the right paperwork done and stuff.

“Everybody wants to make it seem like wild, wild west

standoff between me and the Rockets. That’s not the case here. There has been an issue that’s been identified. Mental health is not descriptive enough in CBA (collective bargaining agreement) and UPC (uniform player contract.) It being so vague makes us make it up as we go. There’s no protocol. We need to rectify that to make sure the environment is safe. If we’re making it up as we go, … that’s probably not the safest thing.”

White, however, seemed satisfied that by adapting enough of the protocols he proposed, he would be able to return to the team.