HOUSTON - The Houston Rockets have signed guards Bob Sura and Charlie Ward,
General Manager Carroll Dawson announced today. Sura and Ward, who played
together at Florida State from 1991-94, bring a combined 19 years of NBA
experience to the Rockets backcourt.
Sura has averaged 8.4 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 596 career
games with Cleveland, Golden State, Detroit and Atlanta. The 6-5, 200-pound
guard has posted a double-figure scoring average in three seasons, including
a career-high 13.8 points per game with Cleveland during the 1999-2000
season. He started his NBA career in Cleveland, playing five seasons with
the Cavaliers. Sura then played three seasons in Golden State before
splitting last season between Detroit and Atlanta. He scored 7.5 points per
game last season, but averaged 14.7 points with 8.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists
in 27 games after being traded to the Hawks. Sura also scored a career-high
32 points at Orlando last Apr. 2 and posted his first two career
triple-doubles in consecutive games last Apr. 9 at Chicago and Apr. 10 vs.
Boston.
Ward has averaged 6.3 points, 4.1 assists and 1.24 steals in 616 career
games with New York and San Antonio. The 6-2, 185-pound guard played his
first nine-and-a-half seasons with the Knicks before finishing last season
with the Spurs. In Knicks history, Ward ranks third with 539 3-pointers
made, fifth with 697 steals and eighth with 2,281 assists. Ward played seven
of his seasons with the Knicks for Jeff Van Gundy, serving as the team's
starting point guard during their drive to the 1999 NBA Finals. He has
advanced to the playoffs in seven of his 10 seasons. Last season the 10-year
veteran averaged 6.0 points and 3.0 assists with New York and San Antonio,
while ranking 10th in the NBA with a 3-point percentage of .408.
The Rockets roster now stands at 13 players: Reece Gaines, Adrian Griffin,
Juwan Howard, Jim Jackson, Tyronn Lue, Tracy McGrady, Bostjan Nachbar, Eric
Piatkowski, Bob Sura, Maurice Taylor, Charlie Ward, Clarence Weatherspoon
and Yao Ming.