Rockets Continue Mystery at Point Guard Position

The Houston Rockets have had a deficit at the point guard position all season. Well, really a mystery.

Or question mark. However you want to coin it. In fact, let's just say all of the above.

D is the correct answer choice here.

Reed Sheppard has been an option all along. But the Rockets don't view the second-year Kentucky product as an on-ball guard.

Even though he's the only player on the roster with the capability of operating as a pick-and-roll maestro. We've seen him weave in and out of screens to snake defenses and hit open shooters behind the line.

We've also seen him throw cross-court ropes with precision. Another player who has the same capabilities (well, similar) is J.D. Davison, who came with significantly less fanfare than Sheppard.

Not even close. In fact, Sheppard was a top-three draft pick. Although the masses view his draft class as one of the worst ever seen, which may be hyperbole, but it's certainly shaping up to be one of the less star-studded classes in recent memory.

Davison was signed on a two-way deal prior to the start of the 2025-26 NBA season.

Meaning he'd be able to be activated for just 50 games in the 2025-26 NBA season, short of being converted to a traditional NBA deal (which can be non-guaranteed).

There's a caveat to the 50-game counter, which works against the Rockets (and respective teams, alike). Davison doesn't have to play for the game to count.

He doesn’t even have to suit up for it to count. If he's not deemed inactive, it counts. Even if he's on the sidelines dressed in a suit and tie.

Or in his favorite fit with his favorite pair of Jordan's.

As of now, Davison is at 46 games. And the Rockets have made it abundantly clear that they don't view him as a necessary ingredient to this team.

They just made it crystal clear, after sending him back down to the G-League's Rio Grande Vipers. If Houston was hell-bent on giving Davison a standard contract, they wouldn't be preserving his games.

It wouldn't matter if he was under 50 games or not. Because they'd be converting him anyways and giving themselves an unlimited amount of games and/or time.

But again, they could certainly use his skillset. They didn't trade for a point guard at the trade deadline and the buyout market was rather dry around the league, so they understandably weren't active there either.

In unrelated news, the Rockets also sent Isaiah Crawford back down to the G-League.