1 starter, 2 rotations! The Rockets have a three-man team with two-way contracts, showing three skills and basically avoiding layoffs.

The Rockets lost their main point guard VanVleet more than half a month ago. During a training camp in the Bahamas, VanVleet was injured unexpectedly, resulting in a season-ending injury. In the new season, VanVleet will not only be unable to play in 4 preseason games, but also in the next 82 regular season games and the more difficult playoffs, he will sit on the sidelines and can only cheer for his teammates off the court.

However, now that VanVleet is away, the Rockets have developed many useful point guards, such as Sheppard and Amen Thompson, who have performed well recently. They should be the Rockets' top point guards in the new season. and Aaron Holiday has also performed very well in recent preseason games. His three-point shooting is accurate and his defensive ability is strong. In the previous game against the Eagles, Aaron Holiday unexpectedly sent a team-high 6 assists, which is impressive. In that game, Holiday scored 16 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, and only made 1 turnover in the game.

In addition to these players with formal contracts, when the Rockets defeated the Hawks in the previous game, the three players with two-way contracts also performed very convincingly. For example, Isaiah Crawford, who entered the Rockets' starting lineup for the first time and became the Rockets' main power forward, made 8 of 14 shots and 4 of 7 three-pointers in 31 minutes of playing time. He scored 20 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and only made 1 turnover. His plus-minus value was as high as +23, ranking first in the team.

Substitute defender Davison is even more of a dark horse at No. 1! He played 32 minutes, made 5 of 11 shots, and made 2 three-pointers. He contributed 14 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds, and 4 steals. His performance on both offense and defense was as good as his first game; and Kevin Harris, a two-way contract player at the shooting guard position of the Rockets, also performed his best performance since joining the Rockets in this game. In 21 minutes, Kevin Harris made 2 of 5 shots, 2 of 3 three-pointers, and 4 of 4 free throws. He contributed 10 points and 7 rebounds.

In other words, these three two-way contract players are really "given a little sunshine and it will shine". They have all entered the rotation. Crawford was also lucky enough to become the Rockets' starter and got as many as 31 minutes of playing time. Moreover, the scoring data of the three have improved, and all three of them have scored three-pointers. The three two-way contract players have made a total of 8 three-pointers in a single game.

In terms of rebound protection and defense, they do not behave like fringe players, but rather like the absolute core of the Rockets. Based on the performance of this game, we can basically confirm that the three two-way contract quotas of the Rockets will not be replaced again-that is to say, although the three people may not be able to regularize their contracts, they can definitely stay with the Rockets with two-way contracts and participate in the regular season games of the new season.

These three players can not only shoot three-pointers, but also provide assists, and they also have their own achievements on the defensive end. Because there is a prerequisite for the Rockets to sign players, that is, they must be able to defend. If a player can only attack and score, but cannot defend, no matter how strong his scoring ability is, it will be difficult for him to get into the eyes of Rockets general manager Rafael Stone and head coach Uduka.

Now the three two-way contract players have basically avoided the risk of layoffs. After all, the Rockets are about to lay off some players. The regular season of the new season is approaching. The Rockets should make a decision now on how to streamline the lineup to prepare for the test of the regular season.