Rockets deem summer league, rookie debuts a success.
Led by Green , youngsters accomplish team’s goals despite injuries, absences
LAS VEGAS — The Rockets’ summer league schedule ended Tuesday much as the 2020-21 season had. Though NBA teams can generally hope their summer roster will offer reminders of the varsity, at first glance this would not seem to be a good development, the sort a stunning late run to a final win could change.
The starting backcourt was out with injuries. The starting center and power forward were unavailable. Two players were brought in for two games to finish out the schedule.
The Rockets, however, could consider their summer work to be a success on a variety of levels, in no way dampening the enthusiasm cranked up with the draft-night haul of four 19-year-old prospects, highlighted by electric guard Jalen Green.
The happiness with the summer starts with the realization that Green’s sore hamstring and Khyri Thomas’ sore groin are not considered serious. Green is expected to resume workouts in a few weeks, Thomas soon after.
Beyond that most important evaluation, the Rockets saw enough from their rookies, even with Usman Garuba arriving late from Spain after his Olympics duties and Alperen Sengun departing early to return to Turkey, to feel good not just about the additions but the work they put in.
“It went well,” general manager Rafael Stone said. “All of our guys got to play at least some. It would have been nice to have all of our guys from the beginning, but that hasn’t been our expe
rience for the last year and half, so why would it start now?
“That notwithstanding, I think it’s been a really valuable experience for Usman and Sengun. It gives them a chance to get acclimated to the U.S. a little bit. Or Josh (Christopher) to get acclimated to professional basketball. And for Jalen, I think he showed he’s about as ready as he could be.”
Green played in 2½ games before limping off with a sore hamstring. But he put on a show, often against defenses swarming to stop him, averaging 20.3 points on 51.4 percent shooting and 52.6 percent accuracy on 3-pointers.
“It’s exciting to see him up and close and personal in a Rockets uniform,” coach Stephen Silas said. “Jalen out there making exciting plays but doing it within the context of how we do things. Alperen the same thing — rebounding and scoring in the paint. It’s going to take me some time figuring out how he fits into what we do.”
Sengun averaged 14.5 points and 10.8 rebounds in 25 minutes per game, shooting 43.2 percent, including 37.5 percent on 3s.
Garuba did not have that sort of role in his three games but considered every minute valuable.
“It’s very important to adjust to
the league,” he said. “It’s a great experience because it is a different
kind of environment from Europe. The NBA is a different kind
of game, different type of practices. It was great to see that.” Christopher went even further. “A learning experience — had a good time, man,” he said. “Good crowds. Good energy. Everybody got to eat. Overall, a great experience. A great experience.”
In many ways, Christopher’s experience was more typical of summer league. He averaged 16.8 points, 4.2 assists and 4.2 rebounds but made just 38.5 percent of his shots, 18.2 percent of his 3-pointers.
He saved his best for last, however, scoring 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting with five assists and five rebounds Tuesday while leading the late defensive charge to a 9592 win over Portland.
Summer league, however, is not about the results as much as the experience, including practices, that allows young players to start training camp ready to execute. That was a clear positive, with the Rockets excelling on outof-bounds plays, indicating an ability, as Silas put it, “to take it from the board to the court.”
“You try to put people in positions to grow through those challenges and solve the most puzzles,” Rockets summer league coach Will Weaver said. “I don’t know if we could have anticipated how it was all going to shake out. The spirit that our group brought to the week was for sure the right one. I know we’re coming out of here having learned and grown in ways that will serve us well in the regular season.”
With six summer Rockets under contract and three who could compete for two two-way deals (rookie Matthew Hurt is signed to a two-way contract, with Armoni Brooks and Anthony Lamb holding qualifying offers), taking lessons from Las Vegas to training camp is more of a goal than winning games in August.
“They have a feel for how we do things,” Silas said. “We were able to see all of our draft picks. We have different ideas we can build upon. We can take it and break it down with each guy and let them get a feel for us so we can make this partnership work. Overall, just good to have them on the court and playing in our system. We had some injuries and other stuff, but overall, it’s mission accomplished.”