Veteran NBA guard DeMarre Carroll has nothing bad to say about San Antonio Spurs legendary head coach Gregg Popovich.
However, the swingman — who has agreed to a buyout with the Spurs and plans to sign with the Houston Rockets — says he was never able to jell with Popovich on the basketball court:
“Coach Pop is a great individual to me,” Carroll said, via The San Antonio Express News. “Outside of basketball, we talk about family, all kinds of stuff. But with the basketball thing, we just didn’t jell.”
Carroll only appeared in 15 games for the Spurs this season. San Antonio acquired Carroll from the Brooklyn Nets in a sign-and-trade deal in July. He averaged 2.2 points and 2.1 rebounds with the Spurs while shooting 31.0 percent from the field, 23.1 percent from beyond the arc and 60.0 percent from the free-throw line.
Now 33, Carroll has career NBA averages of 9.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 569 games with the Memphis Grizzlies, Rockets, Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz, Atlanta Hawks, Toronto Raptors, Nets and Spurs. He played his college ball at Vanderbilt and Missouri and was drafted by the Grizzlies with the 27th overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft.
Carroll has postseason experience, something the Rockets value. The Alabama native has played in 62 postseason games and has career averages of 9.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists.
Spurs fans are probably upset with Carroll, but this partnership wasn't right from the beginning. San Antonio is really missing Davis Bertans, the sharpshooter they traded to the Washington Wizards to clear cap space to sign Marcus Morris.
Carroll will look to provide shooting and defense in Houston.
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