Porter likes what he sees in Vegas
LAS VEGAS — Rockets guard Kevin Porter Jr. took his seat in the front row at Thomas & Mack Center opposite the Rockets’ bench, but he was early.
He had arrived before his teammates who have joined him for the Rockets’ summer league games, before the Rockets’ coaches and front office would take their usual seats to his left, before even the summer league team would take the floor to warm up.
His legs grew jittery with a court and a basket unoccupied until he finally stepped up in a pair of slides for a few no-jump jump shots, a few swishes that passed the time and offered a reminder that it will not be long before the summer leaguers join the varsity for training camp.
“I can’t wait,” Porter said as he returned to his seat, looking forward not just to the last summer league game he would attend this season but to the season ahead. “The young guys want to win. I want to win. Of course, the whole organization wants to win. That’s what we’re chasing.
“We’re putting it together piece by piece. It’s all going to come together.”
The Rockets have had the NBA’s worst record the past two seasons as they moved to a complete rebuild. Only Eric Gordon remains from the time before.
The tough times have brought seven first-round draft picks. At least five — Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun, Josh Christopher, Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason — are likely to be in the Rockets’ rotation to start the season with Porter, Gordon, Jae’Sean Tate and second-year guard Daishen Nix.
As is customary during summer league play, Porter watched the newcomers and found himself encouraged, even excited, with the potential on display.
“Oh man, I think we’re shaping up good,” he said. “Watching these past games in the summer league, I’ve been paying attention to the defensive end. We look like we have the pieces to be a phenomenal defensive team. We already know what we can do on the offensive end, so we’re not much worried about that. Defensively, that’s what I’ve been focusing on. I’m excited.”
The Rockets are 2-1 in Las Vegas after a second-half surge propelled them to a 97-84 win over the Spurs on Monday. With as many as four projected rotation players — rookies Smith and Eason and second-year guards Nix and Christopher — playing, they were expected to have a solid summer team, lacking only size in the middle and contributions from players with extensive NBA experience.
But Porter watched the newcomers and considered how well they can fit, with Eason’s ability to start and run a break, and Smith’s length and range shooting to provide spacing that can unleash Green and Porter.
“We want to be a fast-paced team,” he said. “That’s our identity, and that’s what we started yesterday. We want to keep that momentum, and adding them is going to make us faster.”
Porter, who is heading into the final season of his rookie contract, averaged 15.6 points and 6.2 assists last season. He finished the season well, scoring at least 20 points in each of his final seven games. He became more efficient in the second half of the season, improving his assist-to-turnover ratio in his final 32 games played to 2.54, up from 1.53 in his first 29 games.
Porter, as with the bulk of the Rockets team, has been working in Houston throughout the offseason, and he had been in Las Vegas for workouts each morning at a local gym. The benefit of the work shows even as he watches from the front row.
“I’m slenderer, just getting broader, more slim, more lean so I can maintain an 82 (game) season,” Porter said Monday before he and the other Rockets veterans left Las Vegas before the break in the summer league schedule.
Porter never played in summer league, since he was injured during the start of his rookie year with the Cleveland Cavaliers and the annual event was canceled because of COVID-19 the next season. Heading into his fourth NBA season, Porter said he has gotten more work done this offseason than in any of his others.
“This is probably the first offseason I have key things I have to work on that I know will move us as a team,” he said. “I tell myself, this is my first offseason that I can really have a routine and settle down and stick to a program so I can get ready for next season. I’m excited to have this opportunity to get my routine correct and be a professional.”
With that, Porter repeated his message: “I can’t wait.”
He was not talking about that night’s summer league game.