Report: Josh Smith Traded to the Rockets

Josh Smith is headed back to his former team, the Houston Rockets.

The Rockets and the Los Angeles Clippers completed the trade on Friday, Rockets general manger Daryl Morey confirmed.

He had tweeted, "Welcome back Josh Smith! #bandbacktogether."

As a part of the trade, the Rockets will be giving the Clippers the draft rights for Maarty Leunen and Serhiy Lishchuk, two international players who are playing in Italy and Ukraine, respectively. The Clippers, who reportedly contemplated cutting Smith, will be sending cash to cover the rest of Smith's salary, which is worth $460,000. The trade will also be saving them Clippers a $2 million in luxury tax.

"I'm excited. I feel great," the 30-year-old said to Fox 26 Houston's Mike Berman. "It's a place that I probably should have never left."

Smith signed with the Clippers in free agency in the offseason. His stint there, however, was not as successful as he or the Clippers had hoped for. Not only did his performance dip dramatically, he also reportedly got into a profanity-laced heated argument with Clippers assistant coach Mike Woodson and was benched.

The 11-year veteran was averaging just 5.7 points with 3.9 rebounds this season so far. With the Rockets last year, which he joined midway through the season, Smith averaged 12.0 points and 6.0 rebounds.

The Rockets, who are currently seventh in the Western Conference, are hoping that Smith can deliver like he did last season.