For the first time, the Rockets are in the NBA’s championship game at its annual summer league in Las Vegas. Based on a 5-0 start, including a victory in Sunday’s semifinal versus Utah, Houston will face the Cavaliers (5-0), who are also unbeaten after defeating Brooklyn in Sunday afternoon’s other semifinal at summer league.
The Rockets will again be short-handed, with rookie guard Amen Thompson (left ankle sprain) and second-year forwards Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason (rest) sidelined. But in their absence, rookie prospect Cam Whitmore and two-way players Trevor Hudgins and Darius Days have picked up the slack and then some.
Whitmore, drafted at No. 20 in the 2023 first round, has been nothing short of sensational — including 25 points on efficient shooting in Sunday’s emphatic win against the Jazz.
But the athletic 19-year-old forward out of Villanova, who has been put in good spots on the court by summer-league head coach Ben Sullivan (Ime Udoka’s top assistant entering the regular season), will face a new challenge from an unbeaten Cleveland group.