Houston Rockets make a change to a two-way spot

A center is added, as a guard is removed

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Roughly a month from the start of training camp, the Houston Rockets have reshuffled the bottom of the roster.

Houston has swapped out one of its two-way slots, replacing guard Tristen Newton with center Rafael Castro. Castro played for Providence College and then George Washington University, and went undrafted in June. He participated for the Milwaukee Bucks in summer league in California and Las Vegas.

Listed at 6-foot-10, Castro is stronger on the defensive end, though he did average 14.6 points over his final two seasons.

He joins point guards Quadir Copeland (out of North Carolina State) and Sam Pedulla (Virginia Tech and Ole Miss) as the Rockets' two-way players. Those players can play up to 50 games with the team this season before needing to be signed to standard contracts or released.

Pedulla was the G-League Rookie of the Year last season, when he averaged nearly 24 points per game, as well as seven assists and five rebounds. Houston added him recently and let JD Davison go, after Davison had been with the organization the prior season.

The two-ways will likely spend some time with the Rio Valley Grande Vipers if they stick around through the end of training camp. Houston's regular rotation and roster are fairly set, even though they had left the 15th slot open for now, for tax reasons and to pounce on veteran options that could become available.

Houston's roster has been fortified in the offseason by the injury-related returns of Fred Van Vleet and Steven Adams; the free agent acquisition of Marcus Smart; and the drafting of possible second-round steal Bruce Thornton, who was impressive in summer league.

But with consolidation trades a possibility as the season progresses, and the Rockets try to make up ground on San Antonio and Oklahoma City and Minnesota, it is possible that some of the younger players on the rear of the roster get some occasional opportunities.

Castro, specifically, will need to wait his turn, behind Alperun Sengun and Adams as well as the returning Clint Capela, as the Rockets try to develop his offensive game. He did make two All-Defensive Teams in the Atlantic 10 conference. He was born in New Jersey, and has Dominican heritage.

Copeland and Pedulla have even more of a glut in front of them, with Van Vleet, Smart and Reed Sheppard set up for the majority of the ball-handling minutes. If one of them is playing much, that means something likely went wrong.