JD Davison's Time on the Rockets Could be Coming to a Close Soon

Will the Rockets give him a standard deal?

Dec 11, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Rockets guard JD Davison (4) looks on during practice before the game against the Los Angeles Clippers at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

The Houston Rockets have been short-handed at the point guard spot for years. Fred VanVleet has taken on the mountain share of minutes since leaving the Toronto Raptors and coming to Houston.

(Or lion share, whatever you prefer).

In the summer, the Rockets added JD Davison on a two-way deal, which didn't draw much fanfare, because people don't quite pay attention to two-way signees.

They don't usually play. 

Well, outside of the Summer League and G-League.

Davison's time on the Rockets' active roster is dwindling down.

Two-way players are slotted 50 games on the NBA roster before losing two-way eligibility. At that point, the team has to sign them to a standard deal or assign them to the G-League for the rest of the season, if their 50-game mandate is used before the completion of the regular season.

Davison has already used half of his eligibility.

The Rockets have 25 games left of Davison's eligibility.

If they want to keep him around beyond his two-way eligibility, they'd have enough cap room under the first apron to offer him a prorated veterans minimum deal. 

Houston has $1.2 million under the first apron. There's no way around the hard cap.

The full minimum scale for Davison, based on his years of service would be $2.46 million. 

By the time Davison's eligibility will be up, the NBA calendar month will be in the February.

That would cost the Rockets $900,000, as there would be 30 games left on the schedule. 

However, Davison hasn't been a contributor for the Rockets, hence his 6.6 minutes per contest. Which always come in garbage time -- at least during the regular season.

During the preseason he touched the floor quite regularly. Or at least a lot more.

But it's the preseason. That's the time for evaluating prospect-level players.

His preseason showing had fans thinking he could've possibly been the Rockets' next unheralded gem.

He averaged 10.5 points, 48.4 percent from the field, 47.1 percent from long distance (on 4.3 attempts), 3.5 assists, 2.5 rebounds, 1.3 steals and a +6.

His shooting stroke would've been almost a guarantee for some semblance of playing time in past seasons. At least in recent seasons.

The Rockets, this season, have been the league's best long-range shooting team, hitting at a clip of 40 percent, which ranks second-best in the association. The Rockets have never fared better than 37.5 from long-range, which came during the 2008-09 season.

If Davison isn't going to get much tread on the big roster, the Rockets may opt to save that money and use it on the buyout market, which would land them a higher profile player who would be apt to play.