Once again, Houston is packing the rocket ship for another Summer League expedition. But is this the year the regular season takes priority? Houston’s Summer League roster will still feature plenty of talent. Last year’s MVP, Cam Whitmore, is among those expected to suit up. The newly acquired aft-section gunnery officer (bench shooter) Reed Sheppard will also be reporting for duty. But this may be the year that Houston’s Summer League squad begins to look more like any other roster. The front office will be hoping that the team can pivot to being standouts in the regular season instead.
Houston Hoping To Be Summer League Specialists No Longer
It’s that time of year again. Everybody gets a first glimpse of their favorite team’s new additions. In recent summers, Houston has been something of a belle of the ball in these tournaments. Young prospect after young prospect, albeit without the spectacle of a Victor Wembanyama-level phenom. Indeed, there will be no such phenom featured in this year’s exhibit. Second-year players with solid rookie seasons often decline to participate, and Wembanyama is busy running pick-and-rolls and playing completely unbeatable defense with Rudy Gobert for France (The two best-shot blockers in the NBA are playing with a rule set that lets them camp the lane and goaltend… Team USA might have its work cut out for it at these Olympics).
This Year’s Tournament
Without any such mega-prospect, this year’s Summer League will be a slightly more sedate affair. Probably the player attracting the most eyes will be the 55th pick in the draft, Bronny James. In fact, maybe that’s actually more spectacle than the average Summer League. He already single-handedly made anybody without an immediate vested interest tune in to the NBA’s brand-new second day of the draft. Expect that format to be discontinued, if not next year, then the year after, on account of how dismal the ratings were without a son of LeBron James getting drafted.
Unfortunately, the 19-year-old James has already been ruled out of his second game after a lackluster showing in his first. Los Angeles Lakers picks will always get a higher level of scrutiny for obvious reasons. You don’t get to be the most popular franchise in the sport without also picking up the most sneering detractors. Think back to the Summer League outings of Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball. He went from a bust to a future all-time great from game to game. Meanwhile, as also the son of the most popular player in the sport, the younger James will get it even worse. And that’s without even considering whether he’s a legitimate NBA-level prospect.
Houston’s Main Summer League Attractions
Regardless of all that, Whitmore and Reed will be pulling the most eyes for Houston specifically at this year’s Summer League. They’ll also be demanding the most possessions. Whitmore averaged 20.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 3.0 steals per game in his MVP showing last year. Expect that to improve. Pay particularly close attention to his assist numbers, though, since decision-making will need to be his main area of growth. Meanwhile, Reed’s excellent college-level movement-shooting and passing chops will be put to the test at an almost NBA level. He’ll have the opportunity to experiment with more creation than he will during the regular season as well.
The Peripheries
Besides those two, a few more intriguing periphery players will be getting some run in Houston’s Summer League games as well. Among them will be former Atlanta Hawk and recent trade acquisition AJ Griffin. He’s had a bit of a slow start to his career and has a lot of depth to slog through in the climb for regular rotation minutes. Expect him to come out aggressive in these games. Expect that aggression to jump to a whole other level when Whitmore inevitably gets pulled from the lineup after a few dominant displays. That was the approach with Jabari Smith Jr last season. He averaged 35.5 points per game in his limited run a year ago, and Whitmore will likely be targeting something similar.
Last season’s Houston garbage time connoisseurs may also consider themselves familiar with a couple of other members of the Summer League squad. In particular, 6’5 wing Jeenathan (Nate) Williams. Williams was a bit of an anomaly in that he seemed to score so effortlessly that he looked out of place in those lineups. Especially when all anybody else was invariably trying to do was feed Boban Marjanovic on the block. The people do love their 7’4 Goliath (and their chicken).
Even more so than Griffin, Williams would have a heck of a job working his way up to rotation minutes on this team. In theory, though, if he can exhibit some growth in the areas that the coaching staff consider his debilitating weaknesses, then maybe he could get his name on the alternate list for when the injury bug comes to town. Less of a scoring standout, Jermaine Samuels will also be familiar to some Rockets fans from last season.
The Last Word
With Houston’s Summer League roster seemingly preparing to come back down to earth, fans may find themselves slightly underwhelmed this time around. Then again, only the truly dedicated fan is willing to start paying attention to actual basketball before opening night. And the truly dedicated will realize that this is progress for Houston. If players like Amen Thompson and Jabari Smith Jr have moved on to bigger things, then it can only mean that Houston’s era of being Summer League specialists is at an end. The team may have foregone any big-name trades, but their rebuild is reaching a new phase. The regular season, with all its perils, awaits.
