The Houston Rockets have finalized a buyout with former Los Angeles Lakers guard Derek Fisher.

“After much discussion and expressing their desire to welcome Derek to their team this season as well as the 2012-2013 season, the Houston Rockets and Derek have negotiated a buyout,” Fisher’s business manager Jamie Wior said in a statement late Sunday night.

Fisher, 37, had played in 537 consecutive games prior to being dealt to the Rockets.

The Rockets had acquired the Lakers icon on Thursday afternoon with the hopes of convincing him to stay with them the remainder of the season. Houston currently sits eighth in the Western Conference and hoped his locker room presence would help them make the playoffs and influence what had been a relatively young roster. They also have a need for another point guard while Kyle Lowry recovers from a bacterial infection over the next few weeks.

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