Houston Rockets: Assessing Houston’s Summer League Roster

The NBA’s Orlando Summer League is under way. The Houston Rockets won their first game against the Philadelphia 76ers 88-80, led by Terrence Jones’ 24 points and 12 rebounds, while shooting 69 percent from the floor.

This time last year, the Rockets were paying very close attention to each player on their roster with the understanding that their summer league roster could look frighteningly similar to the roster for the regular season.

Fast forward to today and you have quite a different picture.

A few of the players on Houston’s Summer League roster will sound familiar. Terrence Jones, Patrick Beverley, James Anderson and Greg Smith all saw some playing time with Houston last season, in varying degrees.

It’s virtually guaranteed that Terrence Jones, Beverley and Smith will be a part of the Rockets come the start of regular season, so let’s focus on the younger players who may or may not have a shot at making it to the Association.

Who Probably Won’t Be Back

The addition of Dwight Howard and the re-signing of Francisco Garcia likely means that James Anderson and Tim Olbrecht are all but out of Houston.

Anderson was a former first-round pick of the San Antonio Spurs, but never quite developed into the player that some anticipated he might become. While he has the ability to knock down the outside shot, he struggles with shooting it consistently and on a team that relies heavily on outside shots, this doesn’t quite mesh. Anderson would be owed nearly $1 million if the Rockets chose to pick up his contract, but given that the market for Anderson is virtually non-existent, it’s likely that the Rockets will let him pass through the waiver wire and re-sign him for less.

Ohlbrecht shined for the Rio Grande Vipers in the D-League last season, but unfortunately was never afforded to the opportunity to get any real NBA experience. He played a grand total of 12 minutes in 2012-13. After signing Dwight Howard, Ohlbrecht will fall behind Howard, Asik and Smith, meaning that there simply won’t be any need, nor opportunity, for him to get playing time.

Jack Cooley, the 6’9” forward out of Notre Dame, will also not likely be a Houston Rocket by the time the season rolls around. It’s not that he doesn’t have the talent to play in the NBA, but his style of play does not favor Houston’s run-and-gun offense. Cooley is a hard-nosed player that creates scoring opportunities down low by physically punishing his defender. If you had to sum up Cooley as a player in one word, that word would be “tough.”

Think Chuck Hayes.

He’s not afraid to keep those elbows out in an effort to open up space and in contrast to a player like David Lee, when Cooley sets a screen you’re like to remember it for the rest of the game. Given Cooley’s lack of speed and his slower style of offense, I do not anticipate him remaining with the Rockets. That being said, his ground-and-pound style of play could potentially be a valuable asset to teams in need of that type of post player.

Who Could Be On The Roster

With the effect that Howard’s salary will have on the Rockets cap flexibility, it’s very possible that some of these young rookies will given a shot to play for Houston next season.

One of those rookies is the former Murray State point guard and Rockets’ second-round draft pick, Isaiah Canaan. In his senior season at Murray State, Canaan averaged 22.4 points, 4.3 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game.

Canaan, however, is a better perimeter scorer, which might allow him to earn some minutes for the Rockets next season.

Despite only shooting 37 percent from behind the arc his senior year, as a junior Canaan was at 46.8 percent, or 46.3 percent per 40 minutes pace adjusted. In his 132 collegiate games, Canaan’s 3-point percentage was 41.9.

The Rockets love to shoot 3s, and having a point guard that can come off the bench and knock down the long ball is probably quite appealing to Houston.

Unlike Lin, Canaan doesn’t need the ball in his hands to create scoring opportunities. In fact, he prefers to catch-and-shoot. Considering Harden is often the primary ball-handler, Canaan could be a nice offensive complement as it gives Harden another target to dish the ball out to coming off picks.

We have yet to see Canaan in action due to a minor ankle injury, but expect for him to get plenty of court time once he’s ready to go.

Another player you should probably count on seeing at some point next season is Robert Covington. Although he went undrafted, the Rockets didn’t just invite him to Summer League, they offered him a contract as well.

You can probably guess what the Rockets found valuable in Covington.

Yep, shooting.

In each of his four seasons at Tennessee State, Covington shot better than 37 percent from behind the arc and for two of those seasons that number was near 45 percent. Moreover, Covington wasn’t just taking one or two 3s per game, those percentages came while taking at least three 3-pointers per game.

Despite being listed as a PF, it’s very likely he would play the 3 for Houston due to his tendency to score from the perimeter. Covington stands at 6’9” and has an insane 7’2” wingspan, which will give him a nice advantage over a lot of NBA small forwards.

The biggest question mark for Covington will be his ability to defend players at the NBA level. Coming off a meniscus injury, it’s unclear how Covington will be able to move laterally to stay in front of his man. You would think that having a 7’2” wingspan might help him out here a little, but that remains to be seen.

It’s no secret that the Rockets are in need of backcourt players that can play tenacious defense. Vander Blue, a 6’4” shooting guard out of Marquette, would provide Houston with just that. Marquette is known for churning out players with relatively great defensive fundamentals.

At 6’4”, 200 pounds and with a 6’6” wingspan, Blue is a very versatile defender. According to Draft Express, Blue ran a 10.40 in lane agility drills, which was the third-best time in the pre-draft combine. Thus, not only does he have the length to defend players, but also he’s exceptional at moving his feet to stay in front of his man without fouling.

While he’s emerged as a potentially excellent defender, Blue’s offensive game is lagging. He’s not a very good shooter (45.4 percent from the field last season) and sometimes looks uncomfortable while shooting. On the other hand, he is an excellent leaper as evidenced by his max vertical of 37.5”.

He’s also proven to be quite adept at slashing to the basket, opening up the kind of high-percentage shots that Houston likes to take.

The last player I expect to have a chance of seeing minutes with Houston this summer is B.J. Young, a 6’3” guard out of Arkansas.

According to Jonathan Givony of Draft Express, Young considered entering the 2012 NBA Draft after a strong performance his freshman year, but chose to remain at Arkansas for another year in an attempt to ensure being drafted somewhere in the first round of the 2013 draft.

But things didn’t go as planned and Young ended up having a disappointing season. As a result, Young went from a potential first-round pick  to not being drafted. For the Rockets, however, this could pay huge dividends for them if they’re able to develop Young’s game and bring out the player who looked like a first round talent.

During his freshman year at Arkansas, Young shot 40 percent from the 3-point line, 50 percent from the field and 74 percent from the free-throw line. While these numbers dropped in 2012-13, Young has shown that, with regained confidence, he is capable of being a potent offensive player.

B.J. Young is at his most dangerous in the transition game. This chart, courtesy of Draft Express, seems to indicate that Young might have been one of the best transition scorers in college basketball last season.

 From DraftExpress.com http://www.draftexpress.com#ixzz2YaNaPT6x

This could make Young a devastating weapon on a Houston team that led the league in pace last season, and thrives off of scoring points in the transition.

If Young can regain his confidence and find his shot, he has the potential to be an absolute steal for Houston.

Although coach Kevin McHale is known for preferring playing veterans over younger players, given the Rockets’ salary cap situation, it’s probable that a few of these rookies may be on the sideline next year. While Summer League games don’t give us a perfect idea of how well a player will perform, given the difference in talent level, it is our first chance to evaluate players who may potentially play significant minutes for Houston in the future.