[TrueHoop] Building a Summer League Roster

Hayesfan · Jul 11, 2009

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-42-59/How-You-Assemble-a-Summer-League-Roster.html

Good article based on the Rockets summer league team.

The construction of a summer league roster follows a certain blueprint: Start with draft picks and most of the second-year guys under contract. Throw in an undrafted rookie or two, some D-Leaguers, then the journeymen who've been bouncing around or playing overseas.

But how do organizations actually choose among the hundreds -- maybe even thousands -- of players who exist in this talent pool?

We sat down with Sam Hinkie, the Rockets' Vice President of Basketball Operations, to better understand the anatomy of Houston's Summer League Roster.

"Gersson Rosas [the Rockets' Director of Player Personnel] handles the heavy lifting in putting the team together," Hinkie said. "The rest of us weigh in heavily, but Gersson does most of the legwork."

The primary goal for a team?

"Figuring out who you want to learn about. Who can be an NBA player? That's the key," Hinkie said. "All of these players have some skill or something that's shown up somewhere that's caused us to say, 'There's a reason that guy can be in the NBA.'"

Winning is way down on the list of goals for the Rockets in Las Vegas.

"We want players who want to win," Hinkie said. "We want players who will lead to winning and they ought to impact winning on this level too, but winning here is the least of our concerns."

With that, we went through the Rockets' Summer League roster name by name, with Hinkie explaining the organization's rationale for each invitation:

Garrett Temple
Hinkie: "He's a perfect example. He's a two-position, maybe three-position defender. He's a massive winner. He's caught between positions."

For a big, combo guard like Temple who didn't work in the most generous system for his talents at LSU, Summer League offers the perfect laboratory to see what he can do at the point.

Hinkie: "It might take him a month. It might take him a few years in Europe. But if he can make that transition, he's an NBA player."

Wherever Temple ends us next year, the Rockets will continue to watch him.

Rod Benson
Hinkie: "He's killed in the D-League. That gets you a look. Guys who kill in the D-League end up on the Rockets' radar."

Jermaine Taylor
The Rockets drafted Taylor with the 32nd pick in this year's draft out of Central Florida. The Rockets are curious to see what he can do against superior competition.

Brad Newley
The Rockets' drafted the Aussie swingman with the 54th overall pick in the 2007 draft. Newley has played in Greece each of the past two seasons.

Hinkie: "He's played well and is making big strides. He's one of our properties, so learning about him is important."

James White
Hinkie: "He's important to us. We invested in him last year, and he's got a chance to make our roster this year."

Aside from Tracy McGrady, the Rockets have only three wings at the moment -- Trevor Ariza, Shane Battier, and Brent Barry. Given the team's familiarity with White's game and, as Hinkie said, their previous investment in him, White will get a strong look.

Mike Green
Hinkie: "A backup one who we've always been interested in. I think he'll be good for us here. Tough guy, winner, can rebound, can draw fouls, can create his own shots, but is also a pure point guard. He's a decent defender and can pressure the ball. Those are qualities we like and he's earned the right to be evaluated in an environment like this."

Chase Budinger
The Rockets drafted the Arizona forward with the 44th pick in this year's draft.

Will Conroy
Hinkie: "He killed in the D-League, and he was a legitimate one in college and is becoming more legitimate by the day. He's backup one ready and a guy who's a logical 10-day call-up."

To that end, Hinkie emphasized that it's important to be familiar with a player before you pick him up mid-season.

"When we put a guy on our roster, I don't want that to be our first look at him," Hinkie said. "Why not be in position where not only our staff weighs in, but our coaching staff can weigh in and say, 'He was good at this, or he struggled at this.'? It gives us a chance to perform more due diligence."

Joey Dorsey
The Rockets selected Dorsey 33rd overall in the 2008 draft.

Maarty Leunen
Houston took Leunen with the 54th overall pick in the 2008 draft. He played last season in Turkey.

Charles Gaines
Hinkie had said that, as a general rule, the younger the player, the better in Summer League. Given that Gaines will be 28 before the year is up, I asked him why the team made an allowance in Gaines' case.

Hinkie: "He earned his way. He played really well in Europe. He came in a make-good Summer League situation. Even though we have a roster of guys with his sorts of skills, he's the kind of player we love -- rebounds his tail off, plays hard, is undersized and doesn't care."

Hinkie's answer sounded uncharacteristically sentimental for a Rockets' organization that bases every decision on empirical fact. I asked him if, in Gaines' case, the team bowed to their love of his grit.

"The only sentimentality to Gaines is that he does the things we know are empirically valuable," Hinkie responded. "He just rolls hard. He just sets good screens. He just bodies guys at the elbow when they come down. He just tries to get every single rebound."

Hinkie draws a comparison between Chuck Hayes and Gaines. Like Hayes, Gaines knows his offensive limitations, so he resists shooting, making him a more efficient player.

"Gaines is a Houston Rocket," Hinkie concluded. " We might not have room for him, but he's earned his way."

Darryl Watkins
With Yao to miss the entire 2009-10 season, the Rockets are in need of size.

Hinkie: "He fits that need. He's young and getting better -- and we want to see how much better, and how quickly."
Click to expand...

Strawman · Jul 11, 2009

Gaines is a Rocket?

blender · Jul 11, 2009

Excellent find, Hayesfan. Thanks for posting it.

IIRC some "insider" recently posted that the Rockets are looking at D-Leaguers hard, and it looks like he/she was right. I wonder how many of these summer league guys will be stashed in that D-League team the Rockets will be running now.

Seven · Jul 11, 2009

Strawman said:

Gaines is a Rocket?
Click to expand...

Didn't he come a couple years ago in the trade with Orlando?

mrfirefly7 · Jul 11, 2009

Strawman said:

Gaines is a Rocket?
Click to expand...

He has Rockets' mentality.

Seven · Jul 11, 2009

Seven said:

Didn't he come a couple years ago in the trade with Orlando?
Click to expand...

Oh wait, my bad wrong gaines.

Dr of Dunk · Jul 11, 2009

Seven said:

Didn't he come a couple years ago in the trade with Orlando?
Click to expand...

You're thinking "Reese".

shutkip · Jul 12, 2009

Seven said:

Didn't he come a couple years ago in the trade with Orlando?
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Nah, that was Reece Gaines

Dei · Jul 12, 2009

Kinda sad Mike Harris didn't come back.

Carl Herrera · Jul 12, 2009

I was sittinh with Yoyo and RAID during last night's game vs the Summer Mavs. A few thoughts based on what I see.

For a short chunky PF, Gaines has some very good atheleticism and hops. You can tell his older than most. Like a MILF hanging out with college girls.

Conroy,too, looks and acts older than most. He was frequently talking to teammates and coaches. I don't know if he can play in the NBA but I think he can make a few bucks overseas as a productive player and probably can make a good coach.

I can see why Newley surprised White when he did well in practice. Not so much cuz he don't got NBA body, but more cuz he don't got NBA face. Even when doing well his face looks like he is exhausted after running a marathon.
Budinger gets "reminders from" coaches telling him to move somewhere fairly frequently.

Dorsey made some good plays but if he plays significant minutes we will see more of the "Adelman death stare".

FLASH21 · Jul 12, 2009

Seven said:

Didn't he come a couple years ago in the trade with Orlando?
Click to expand...

It was Michael Keaton in "My Life".

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