Michael Frazier makes 2019-20 debut with G League’s Vipers

Guard Michael Frazier, who has a Two-Way deal with the Rockets, made his 2019-20 debut Tuesday after missing over two months with an injury.

Rockets guard Michael Frazier, who is with Houston on one of the team’s two Two-Way contracts, made his 2019-20 season debut Tuesday night with the NBA G League’s Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

The 6-foot-3 guard had 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting (53.8%), including 4-of-9 (44.4%) on three-pointers, along with seven rebounds and three assists in his 26 minutes. The Vipers, who are Houston’s official G League affiliate, won the game over the Iowa Wolves, 142-128 (box score).

Before the 2019-20 season began, the 25-year-old Frazier was given one of Houston’s two Two-Way contracts, along with 5-foot-9 rookie guard Chris Clemons. A player on a Two-Way contract is primarily a G League player, but he can spend up to 45 days with his affiliate NBA team.

Before Tuesday, however, Frazier had yet to play for the Rockets or Vipers in any preseason or regular-season game this fall. The team listed him as out with a right ankle injury, and Frazier recently elaborated on the nature of it to The Athletic‘s Kelly Iko.

Iko wrote:

Frazier revealed to me that he had injured a tendon in his right foot on the first day of training camp. The injury happened due to a collision with a teammate, but the ankle had been in a great deal of pain then.

Frazier explained that they had proceeded with caution, not wanting to put any pressure on it as he rehabbed, but now he’s good to go.

That first day of training camp was back in late September, which means Frazier missed more than two months in total due to the injury. But he’s back now, and once he is fully back in basketball shape, he might get a look at the NBA level sooner rather than later.

Of Houston’s 14 players under standard contracts, three (Eric Gordon, Nene, Gerald Green) are not with the team at the moment due to long-term injuries. An additional two (Austin Rivers, Tyson Chandler) are out for the time being due to illnesses, and Clemons has already used more than two-thirds of his allotment of NBA service days.

At Tuesday’s practice, the Rockets had only eight total players.

Thus, assuming his play at the G League level warrants it, Frazier might soon have an opportunity with the Rockets — since unlike Clemons, the service clock on his Two-Way deal is still at 0 days.

Frazier, who played college basketball at the University of Florida from 2012 through 2015, originally signed with the Rockets in April 2019. He was named as the G League’s 2018-19 Most Improved Player after averaging 16.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game last season with the Vipers.

During the Vipers’ championship run in the 2019 G League playoffs, Frazier averaged 21.0 points and 4.8 three-pointers made per game on 49.0% shooting from the field. In February, he was a member of the USA Men’s World Cup Qualifying Team and averaged team-highs of 17.0 points and 6.5 rebounds in the two games.

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