Rockets Summer League 2026 (Next game: 14 Jul 15:00 vs PHI)

FVV exists.

Thornton reminds me a lot of FVV so I am sure he will get mins since they have the same playstyle. Steady low t/o pg who can run the offense, shoot 3s at volume and defend.

 

Yes you are allowed up to 10 fouls in SL

 

So far I have liked what I have seen from the 3 (old) rooks:

Bruce Thornton
Shades of prime (All Star) FVV. Game high +20 and showcased steady pg play with low tos and efficient scoring across the board. Of course first instinct of CF is to dunk on the guy saying he is too slow lol what else is new. We dont need much just someone who can dribble, make basic pass, defend and shoot wide open shots at high percentage on high volume. Where does being slow come into that? He aint driving from 3 pt line and dunking on multiple defenders.

Thornton is the first true rookie rocket I can remember who lit up SL in his debut. Even guys like Reed and Cam Whitmore still wildly inefficient in their 2nd SL campaign. He handled the ball so much but only had 1 TO and 67% TS, that tells you how much we need this guy.

Quadir Copeland
I like the hustle and intangibles, dude def showcased his vision, hustle and playmaking. Even shot 2/3 from 3. However I think he is on track for a year long stay in GLeague. Way too sloppy 4 tos and 9 fouls. He is a lot more of project than Thornton despite being the same age as Thornton.

Oscar Cluff
Maybe he makes the team, he is like a younger Jock Landale. Doesnt really do anything except be big but he grabbed 9 rebs and was +10 in 20 mins.

The caveat from this game is all our rookies are old guys, it is expected from them to have good games since they are at least 3 yrs older than everyone else. However on the plus side, these 3 clearly differentiated themselves from Isiah Crawford and Daishen Nix, players who are older and have more experience but still sucked ass.

 

I know. I do like his game. He has positive upside to me.

 

The Rockets could use some BBIQ.

 

Big if true.

Hopefully Ime will be able to play FVV more sane minutes and have Thornton eat all of the backup PG minutes, without much of a drop off. Of course, this is assuming that FVV is back healthy and productive.

 

Can y'all believe it's been 2 full years we drafted Reed? Seems like yesterday.

 

They won't even be on the court with Ime.

 

Is Reed now our starting SG?

 

They let the players get ten fouls, if they shot two-three free throws for every foul the games would last two hours, these are games with zero implications, the experiential exercise is fine

 

He's either Stone's illegitimate son of one of his wife's nephews

 

LOL. Why do you think Marcus Smart is here?

 

Um, talking about implementing this for the future not just summerleague. If they choose to go this route eventually in the regular season then they should do 1 FT for a normal 2 shot foul and 2 FTs on a normal 3 shot foul.

 

Season 25-26: Smart played 62 games and averaged 3.0 apg.

You have to go back to Season 22-23 to find Smart playing that many games. Smart averaged 6.3 apg in that season as a PG.

The Lakers listed Smart as a SG, fwiw. You have to go back four seasons to find Smart healthy and playing starting PG.

Of course, Ime might make Smart his starting PG FAIK.

 

Smart and Reed are backups to FVV and Amen. Thornton will only see junk minutes unless someone gets hurt and even then I think they bring a vet in. Thornton is probably going to spend some time in RGV as well. They are not relying on a rookie as the backup PG, especially with the injury concerns for both FVV and Smart. I have been banging the drum on how stupid the Smart signing was because of his injury history, but it is par for the course for Stone to try an hit a home-run with a wiffle bat. He wants to be the guy that finds lightning in a bottle by paying pennies on the dollar. After all the heat he got last year for not having a vet backup for FVV, I don’t think there is anyway he sits on his hands if FVV or Smart go down.

 

I would be very happy with Cluff as 3rd string C. If they could clear Capela's salary that would be a huge win.

 

Him and Sharp.