Pair of Rockets Impressing Through First Three Summer League Games

The Houston Rockets are 0-3 so far in NBA 2K26 Las Vegas Summer League, suffering two nail-biter losses to the Clipprs and Hawks, along with a double-digit defeat at the hands of the Pistons. Despite this, they've had plenty of promising performances from the young talent on the roster.

Reed Sheppard has looked every bit of the defensive stud that pre-draft writeups had projected him to be, piling up 11 stocks in his two competitions before being ruled out for the remaining schedule. Cameron Matthews also earned himself a contract with the main squad following the release of guard Nate Williams.

However, there's also two more Rockets who have pleasantly surprised in their run with the Summer League team, putting their names in the conversation for a two-way contract with the main roster.

Kennedy Chandler

Chandler's dropped double-digit points in each of his three appearances, including 22 points against both the Hawks and Clippers. He's also notched at least three assists in each game, with a high of seven on Atlanta's defense.

Chandler was the No. 38 pick of the 2022 NBA Draft, with his rights immediatley being traded to the Grizzlies. He never quite found a role on their main roster, however, as the guard rotation in Memphis was packed from top to bottom. His lone season on a main roster was his rookie campaign, where the Tennessee product averaged 2.2 points in 7.8 minutes per game through 36 appearances.

Instead, he's spent the majority of his career bouncing between G League teams, with his most recent stop being with the Raptors 905. There, he acted as the team's sixth man and averaged 10.8 points and 4.5 assists in 21.4 minutes per game.

As the Rockets look to round out the roster with guard depth, Chandler could be a viable option to offer a two-way contract.

Adonis Arms

Arms is in the midst of his second consecutive Summer League standout, as he dropped a memorable 32 points and 11 rebounds against the Lakers in July of 2024. Now with Houston's squad, he's primed to do so for the remainder of their schedule.

Arms has seen a minutes increase between all three games so far, starting at a DNP, jumping to 20:05 minutes in game two and 32:46 minutes in game three. Despite competing in losses, Arms maintained a positive plus-minus in both performances, along with a monster 24 point, six rebound, seven assist and three steal box score against the Hawks.

Arms spent two seasons in the G League from 2022-2024, most notably averaging 18 points per game with the Memphis Hustle in 2023-2024 before spending a year overseas with the Guangdong Tigers. The 27-year-old may have already peaked, but he could be worth giving a chance to play his first official NBA game.

Arms fits the mold of sizable, defensively skilled Rockets wings like Tari Eason, Jabari Smith and Jae'Sean Tate – making him a second candidate for a two-way contract.