Tag: Michael Frazier

Eight players on Rockets to wear social justice messages on jerseys

Houston will have eight players wearing social justice jerseys, led by Russell Westbrook and Robert Covington with “Black Lives Matter.”

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Earlier this month, the NBA and National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) agreed on social justice messages that can be displayed on the back of jerseys, similar to the usual placement of a player’s last name.

The idea is to use the platform and large television audience of the league’s looming restart to help promote the growing U.S. social justice movement, which picked up steam after George Floyd’s death in late May.

Because messages were limited to only approved options, some players are choosing not to use the option. For example, reserve guard Austin Rivers of the Houston Rockets wanted to use his jersey to honor Trayvon Martin, but the approved list does not offer that possibility.

Per NBA.com, here are the eight members of the Rockets who will wear an approved social justice message on their jersey:

Robert Covington | Black Lives Matter
Russell Westbrook | Black Lives Matter
Michael Frazier | Equality
Eric Gordon | Equality
Luc Mbah a Moute | Justice
Bruno Caboclo | Justice Now
Chris Clemons | Justice Now
Jeff Green | Vote

Players who are not listed will simply have their last name at its usual nameplate spot on the back of their jersey. For those players wanting to express a different message, the NBPA recently announced a plan to partner with Westbrook’s clothing line to design social justice shirts, which include additional statement options. These can be worn around the league’s Disney World campus, as well as before and/or after games.

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As for the revised jerseys, they will be worn by the Rockets in the 2019-20 regular season and playoffs, beginning with Friday’s first game of the restart against Southwest Division rival Dallas. Tip-off from the NBA “bubble” in Florida is set for 8:00 p.m. Central, with the game broadcast regionally on AT&T SportsNet Southwest and nationally on ESPN.

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William Howard returns to France, not on Houston’s restart roster

Howard signed with a French team, though fellow Two-Way player Michael Frazier and newcomer Luc Mbah a Moute are both on the final roster.

The Houston Rockets finalized their roster on Monday for the NBA’s upcoming restart of the 2019-20 season.

As expected, Two-Way forward William Howard — who had largely played for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Houston’s G League affiliate — is not with the Rockets in the Florida “bubble” and is not on their final roster.

That’s because the 26-year-old Howard, a France native, signed a deal during the NBA’s lengthy COVID-19 hiatus with French team ASVEL.

A 6-foot-8 forward, Howard averaged 12.8 points (36.4% on 3-pointers) and 5.3 rebounds in 31 minutes per game with the Vipers. He played only sparingly in two games for the Rockets, who signed Howard in late December after a previous stint with Utah’s G League affiliate.

Due to Howard’s absence and the addition of injured newcomer David Nwaba, who will not be available until the 2020-21 season, Houston’s final roster of 15 players is one of the smallest of the 22 teams participating in the restart. Regular-season play resumes on July 31 for the Rockets.

Michael Frazier, who is Houston’s other Two-Way player, is with the Rockets in the Florida “bubble” and on the final roster. As such, he will be eligible to play once the season resumes. The 6-foot-3 guard, who is well regarded for his defense, averaged 14.9 points (33.3% on 3-pointers) and 3.3 rebounds in 28.1 minutes per game with the Vipers.

Like Howard, Frazier is also 26 years old. Players on Two-Way contracts are primarily G League participants, but they can spend up to 45 service days with their affiliate NBA team. Unlike most years, the league’s new rules surrounding the restart and associated health concerns after a long layoff will allow Two-Way players to be eligible for postseason play.

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The entire Houston roster can be viewed below. Besides Howard, other changes relative to their pre-COVID roster include the departures of young center Isaiah Hartenstein (released to make room for Nwaba) and veteran forward Thabo Sefolosha, who opted out of the restart.

Sefolosha’s spot was filled by veteran forward Luc Mbah a Moute, who is not yet with the Rockets in Florida due to an undisclosed reason. However, Houston Chronicle reporter Jonathan Feigen said Monday that Mbah a Moute is expected to arrive “soon,” according to a source. His inclusion on the final roster would seem to indicate that the Rockets remain confident as to his eventual availability for the restart.

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Rockets to sign rookie guard Chris Clemons to three-year contract

With his Two-Way deal running out of NBA days, the Rockets are signing rookie guard Chris Clemons to a three-year standard contract.

The Houston Rockets agreed to a three-year contract with rookie guard Chris Clemons, as first reported by The Athletic‘s Shams Charania.

The 5-foot-9 Clemons had been on a Two-Way contract with the Rockets. A player on a Two-Way contract is primarily a G League player, but he can spend up to 45 service days with his affiliate NBA team.

Clemons’ allotment of NBA service days was close to running out, however, which prompted the move to a standard contract and allows him to stay with the Rockets as much as the team wants. Houston pulled a similar roster maneuver with undrafted rookie Gary Clark a season ago, once his Two-Way service days ran out at the NBA level.

The three-year deals were only made possible due to Houston preserving a portion of its Mid-Level Exception (MLE) money in both years, since a minimum contract could not be for longer than two years.

The Rockets (21-10) have had an open roster spot since waiving Ryan Anderson in late November. With the conversion of Clemons, the standard roster is now full, but they now have a Two-Way slot open.

Clemons played in college at Campbell University, where he was the NCAA’s top scorer in the 2018-19 season at 30.1 points per game. He is the third-highest scorer in Division 1 college basketball history. According to Basketball-Reference, Clemons’ offensive win shares (6.1) ranked second-best among all college players last season, while his player efficiency rating (33.0) was top 10 in the country.

Yet, primarily due to his small frame, Clemons was not selected by any team in the 2019 NBA Draft. The Rockets picked him up as an undrafted free agent and he quickly turned heads, averaging a team-best 20.8 points per game in Summer League, including 43.1% on 3-pointers.

In an exclusive July interview from Summer League, Clemons spoke with RocketsWire to explain his journey to the NBA; his skillset; the feedback he has received to this point; and much more.

Since then, in 20 games during the 2019-20 regular season, Clemons is averaging 4.8 points on 39.1% three-point shooting in 8.2 minutes per game. On Nov. 16, Clemons contributed to an important Houston win at Minnesota with a career-high 19 points (5-of-9 on three-pointers). That was a game where the Rockets were significantly shorthanded and missing a pair of veteran guards in Russell Westbrook and Eric Gordon.

With Westbrook and Gordon again out Dec. 14 versus Detroit, Clemons scored 17 points in just 16 minutes on 5-of-11 shooting from three-point range.

In addition to his gifts as a shooter, Clemons has also shown enormous athletic potential. Earlier this month, the 5-foot-9 guard finished an alley-oop on the receiving end following a pass from James Harden.

Harden, who leads the NBA in scoring and is clearly the team leader in Houston, has repeatedly sung the praises of Clemons in media interviews this season.

Now that Clemons is on a standard contract, the Rockets’ lone Two-Way player at the moment is guard Michael Frazier.

After missing all of training camp with an injury, Frazier’s NBA clock has yet to start, as he’s spent all of his time since returning with Houston’s G League affiliate — the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

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In five games with the Vipers, Frazier has averaged 15.6 points and 3.2 rebounds in 23.8 minutes. Clemons has also played in five games there, with a slash line of 21.6 points, 5.0 assists, and 2.6 steals in 31.0 minutes.

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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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Rockets create open roster spot after waiving Ryan Anderson

The Houston Rockets created an open roster spot Monday by waiving Ryan Anderson, and it might ultimately go to rookie Chris Clemons.

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The Houston Rockets are waiving veteran big man Ryan Anderson, as first reported Monday by The Athletic‘s Shams Charania.

The Rockets signed the 31-year-old in September to a partially guaranteed deal, but it had become increasingly clear in recent weeks that Mike D’Antoni and the Houston coaching staff did not see Anderson as a viable option.

Despite multi-game absences by frontcourt starters Clint Capela (concussion) and Danuel House Jr. (back), Anderson still didn’t receive playing time last week. Instead, D’Antoni went with frontcourt prospects Isaiah Hartenstein and Gary Clark, who had previously played for Houston’s G League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

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Any value Anderson had to the Rockets was in the form of insurance depth. But with Capela and House probable to return in Monday’s home game versus Portland, that became less important.

Overall, Anderson played in just two games during the current 2019-20 season. In those, the 6-foot-9 forward averaged 2.5 points (28.5% shooting, 20.0% on three-pointers) and 3.5 rebounds in 7.0 minutes.

Anderson’s second stint in Houston was clearly less successful than his first. In 138 regular-season games (122 starts) during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons, a younger Anderson averaged 11.6 points (39.6% on three-pointers) and 4.8 rebounds in 27.8 minutes per game. However, his defensive mobility declined as the years progressed.

Anderson’s exit does open up a roster spot for the Rockets, though it’s unclear if they have immediate plans to use it. Houston currently has 14 players under standard contracts, along with prospect guards Chris Clemons and Michael Frazier on Two-Way deals.

According to Houston Chronicle beat writer Jonathan Feigen, the roster spot could ultimately be used to keep Clemons with the team once he runs out of NBA service days on his Two-Way contract. Clemons, a 5-foot-9 rookie guard, scored 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting in Saturday’s win over Minnesota.

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