It seems enough is finally enough for the Houston Rockets. They've spent the better part of the summer trying to negotiate with second round picks, and it sounds like they're finally ready to move on. Yes, Carl Landry had a very good rookie season - especially the second half. Yes, it would be nice to have Joey Dorsey in camp. But both players have bigger demands than what the Rockets feel are justified, and this week the Rockets are getting on with other plans.

Houston's brass has invited five big men to try out for the team, one of which is former LA Clipper Daniel Santiago. Santiago has just fulfilled a three-year contract with the Spanish ACB's CB Málaga, and is now hoping to resume his career in the NBA. If things don't work out for him to return to the NBA, he also says he'd be happy to return to Europe.

"I'm really at a point in my life where I'm letting God handle all of that," Santiago recently told HOOPSWORLD. "I've done the NBA thing, I've done the Europe thing - I just want to enjoy playing basketball and spending time with my family. I've been fortunate enough to play with some teams that are powerhouse teams, been in the playoffs with just about every team I've played for in my whole career, and that's including the NBA. I feel like anywhere I go I'm going to be blessed and be a blessing to that team. If I wind up in the NBA, great, I'll do the best I can. If I go to Europe, great, I'll do the best I can there. I just want to have a successful career and be a help for the team that picks me up."

While playing for Spain, Santiago established himself as one of the best big men in Europe. He's not an overwhelmingly gifted physical specimen, but he does more than make up for any physical shortcomings with his wide array of skills. He can score from anywhere, even has legitimate NBA three-point range. He's a double-double waiting to happen, is a smart, savvy player. He was working out at IMG a couple of weeks ago where he completely dominated Boston Celtic Patrick O'Bryant in head-to-head competition. Not that it's hard to do that, but Santiago is certainly capable of competing at the NBA level.

If the Rockets are truly committed to moving on, they could do a lot worse than give Santiago another shot at the NBA. His experience and wide array of skills would make him a great asset to the team.

A Poor First Impression

Every year at about this time the new class of NBA rookies go through a four-day seminar to help prepare them for life as a professional athlete. The program goes through everything from travel and dress code to ways to avoid the many temptations that present themselves on a daily basis. You know - drugs, women, alcohol . . .

Well, apparently the classes were a little late for Miami HEAT rookie Mario Chalmers and Memphis Grizzlies rookie Darrell Arthur. They didn't last a day in the program before being thrown out for violation of program rules. Namely, they were caught in their room with marijuana and women. They'll each be fined $20,000 by the NBA and each will have to serve a suspension, the duration of which has not yet been announced.

So, what are fans in Memphis and Miami to make of this announcement? Rookie mistakes? After all, most veteran players know how to conceal their recreational drug use. Maybe these two just need a word from a more veteran player about how and when to indulge. I suppose it's too much to ask that they just NOT do drugs. Yeah, that would be too easy.

You truly only get one chance to make a first impression, and it seems Chalmers and Arthur will spent most of their rookie season trying to live down their inauspicious beginning.

ESPN is reporting that Miami's Michael Beasley was also in the room, but to this point he has not been fined or charged with possession.

The Plot Thickens

The Monta Ellis story continues to get more intriguing, with medical reports now indicating that the nature of Ellis' ankle injury suggests he didn't sustain the injury while "working out." The injury to Ellis not only includes scrapes and cuts on his leg, they also include an injury to the deltoid ligament in his ankle, which is said to be atypical of a basketball-related sprain.

It seems clear that in the next few days we're going to learn that Monta Ellis was not injured while working out or playing basketball, but rather while taking part in some sort of dangerous activity that went dreadfully wrong. Once that revelation comes forth, the Warriors will have a difficult decision to make about what course of action they'll pursue in response.

However, no matter what the cause of the injury or the results of further inquiry, the Golden State Warriors are screwed going into camp.