The Rockets are back in action in Las Vegas, and the spotlight remains squarely on Bruce Thornton. The No. 31 pick matched AJ Dybantsa with 27 points in the opener, and now the question is whether he can keep scoring at that level against a Raptors team that comes in at 0-1.
Thornton’s showing last night put him in the same conversation as some of the class’s bigger names, even if Caleb Wilson stole the headlines with 35 points on 12-for-21 shooting and 7-for-11 from three. Wilson’s performance only sharpened the sense that this rookie group has real talent, though Summer League always comes with a giant asterisk.
It can reveal a player’s strengths, weaknesses, and basic tools. It can also mislead if anyone tries to treat it like a full NBA test.
That’s the whole Summer League trick. It’s useful, but only up to a point.
It’s a loose, low-pressure setting where young players get a first taste of pro basketball, and where teams can learn something without pretending the stakes are anywhere near the regular season. A rough outing matters, but it doesn’t close the book on anybody, especially for players who need others to create their looks.
The Rockets’ other bright spots from the first game were the names you’d expect to hang around the organization in some form. Quadir Copeland and Isaiah Crawford were among the players with strong plus-minus numbers, along with Thornton.
Undrafted Purdue center Oscar Cluff also turned in a solid game, using his 6-foot-11 frame and at least 255 pounds to control the glass. He may not be the most explosive or mobile big man, but he gave Houston something useful inside.
For Thornton, patience is still the key. Smaller guards are going to get targeted on defense, and that part of the job is unavoidable.
The real question is how much the team around him can support him, because good structure and good coaching can cover for a lot. If they can’t, that says as much about the system as it does about the player.
On the other side, the Raptors should have their No. 19 pick, Alan Graves, available after Denver’s game didn’t feature No. 26 pick Taris Reed. So the stage is set for another look at two teams still sorting out what they have in Vegas.
And, as a final reminder of what Summer League can sound like in the age of machine-generated everything, ESPN’s generative AI recap of the Rockets’ previous game produced this line:
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