Beyond sloppy rosters and pick-up play, Bruce Thornton’s poise and standout performances from potential two-way prospects offer a glimpse into the Rockets’ evolving depth and future rotation.
The Houston Rockets just wrapped up their fourth Summer League game, giving us a solid little sample size to dissect. These makeshift rosters usually just result in glorified pick-up games, which is unsurprisingly what we got. There still are some valuable nuggets of information you can get from this kind of unorthodox NBA basketball, though.
Bruce Thornton
For starters, we saw that the Rockets top draft pick, Bruce Thornton, didn’t show any signs of nerves at all. Solid as a rock, despite his 2.5 turnovers and 4.0 fouls in his first two outings. That’s just the sloppy nature of these games.
Everybody looked more comfortable with each other by the third game against the Philadelphia 76ers, as Thornton had zero turnovers and only a single foul. They also managed to get a huge 64-90 blowout, as seen on ESPN.
The fourth game was much of the same with Thornton being the leading score, averaging 21.3 points on 43.9-percent from the field. He shot 44-percent from deep on over six attempts per game, proving his value there, per NBA Stats.
Two-Way Players
While Bruce Thornton is the only guy who’s guaranteed to get NBA minutes this year, we did also have some guys who could get called up on rare occasions.
As suggested on Roundtable, Isaiah Crawford and Quadir Copeland were the two other names that stood out in these games. Tristen Newton and Daishen Nix got their stats as expected, but I think wings are more needed at this point.
Isaiah Crawford
After an abysmal night from deep in his first game, he shot 40-percent or higher in his next three outings. Unfortunately missing seven out of his first eight shots means his final percentage is still below average at, making eight out of his 25 total attempts.
His energy and effort is probably his best quality, though, and that shows up defensively. He had four steals and nine blocks through four games, averaging out to 1.0 and 2.25, respectively, per NBA Stats.
I think he has real potential to be a legitimate NBA player and get consistent minutes in a bench role at minimum. He reminds me of Tari Eason, especially with how active they both are on the glass, so I definitely understand why the Rockets picked him up last season.
Quadir Copeland
Despite being a point guard in college, he was listed as a forward for most of the Summer League, which makes sense given the Rockets’ needs. Basketball is almost completely positionless these days, so that label doesn’t necessarily matter.
What matters is that he’s a 6’6” player with a 6'11” wingspan, and can dribble, pass, shoot, and defend. He’s just an all out hooper, so who cares about a label? He can play with smaller guards, or in a jumbo lineup. He showed all of that with the Rockets already.
He’s much more selective with his shot when compared to Crawford, so he only got up seven long balls, but did drain four of them. This stat sheet-stuffer averaged 10.5 points, four rebounds, three assists, and 2.75 steals per game after coming away with 11 in four games.
Conclusion
I don't think there were any performances that would change the outlook for any of the guys on Houston's roster, but it did give fans a good idea of how each of these three guys play. I still think they're all going to have the same role as previously expected, though.
Bruce Thornton can obviously handle himself and put the ball in the bucket, so I have no doubt he'll do the same come October. Quadir Copeland is a skilled all-around player who will be interesting to see in the G-League, plus sparingly with the Rockets. We've seen Isaiah Crawford before, and I still think he has a chance to get a full NBA contract.
