What will Rockets point guard rotation look like next season?

Bruce Thornton has us acting like Bart Simpson at a whiteboard:

“I will not overreact to Summer League. I will not overreact to Summer League. I will not…”.

OK, fine: I might overreact to Summer League. Through two games, Thornton is averaging 22.0 points, 4.5 assists, and 4.0 steals in two games.

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Sure, he’s shooting 37.1% from deep. That’s where we should – you guessed it – not overreact to Summer League. He’s had one efficient game, and one inefficient one.

Bruce Thornton will not be the Houston Rockets’ starting point guard in 2026-27. That’s obvious. Still, he may be forcing his way into the rotational conversation. It raises a larger question:

What is the team’s point guard rotation even going to look like?

Rockets point guard rotation worth keeping an eye on

Fred VanVleet is the presumptive starter, but whether he’ll be the player he used to be is an article in itself:

And wouldn’t you know it, I already wrote it.

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That was before VanVleet gave an interview and explained, in medical language, that his knee had kabloomed into a bazillion pieces. He’ll likely be on the floor when the opening buzzer sounds for the 2026-27 season, but his grip on the starting position feels tenuous.

The obvious heir to his throne would be Reed Sheppard, but Ime Udoka could have other plans. Whatever you think of Udoka’s defensive leanings, he may have a point.

If you’re deep enough into Rockets lore, you’ve probably seen the DataBallr stats. When Sheppard shares the floor with Alperen Sengun and without Amen Thompson, the Rockets are -3.9. With all three on the floor, they’re just +0.3. When Sheppard is with Thompson and without Sengun, they’re +12.4, and when he’s without either of his star teammates, the Rockets are +14.5.

The prevailing assumption is that Sheppard and Sengun can’t defend together. That’s not actually what the data shows, as it’s their Offensive Rating that drops. Still, this could be a case of noisy numbers. The broader point would be that, as of now, Sheppard and Sengun, for whatever reason, don’t seem to mix.

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The Rockets were a jarring -9.7 when Sengun was without either…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/rockets-point-guard-rotation-look-113357777.html

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Publish date : 2026-07-14 11:33:00

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