After signing star players such as Van fleet and Tommy Tam, the Rockets signed five unknown players in 2-3 days. These five players are power striker Matthew Mayer, power forward Samuel, and small forward Hinton, who have played for the Rockets in the summer league, and two players who have not participated in the summer league for the Rockets-German striker Obich in the draft in 2019, and former Trailblazers defender Ginason Williams. Once these five players are in place, the Rockets’ lineup will be full at once-20 people.
Initially, the Rockets’ lineup consisted of 13 players with formal contracts and 2 players with two-way contracts. Now, five marginal players have been signed at the same time, and the Rockets have reached full capacity. In the following days, if the Rockets want to sign new players, they must first lay off the players in the team. At present, the five new signing players of the Rockets seem to be most likely to be laid off. After all, the contracts signed by the Rockets with them are only training camp contracts. As long as the Rockets are willing, they can lay off some players at will without any loss.
Among the five new signings, who is most likely to stay in the Rockets? At present, the Rockets still have two official player places, and the two-way player places have been occupied by Huggins and Days, so if possible, the Rockets can lay off three of the five players and leave two players to sign formal contracts. Among these five marginal players, who can successfully stay in the Rockets and occupy a valuable number of players?
At present, for example, the strength of German small forward Obihi is relatively average. Although he can rush and shoot, the Rockets are much stronger than Whitmore, who has the same style as him. In addition, the Rockets’ Williams lacks characteristics. Although Hinton shoots well, the defensive end is lacking. In the end, it is very likely that the duo who performed well in Xia Lian will stay in the Rockets-striker Samuel and power forward shooter Matthew Mayer.
One of these two players can throw and the other can fight. Mel’s template is a bit like Ryan Anderson, the big shooter of the Rockets, with strong three-point firepower. Samuel is a bit like Tucker. Although he is short in height, he has a strong impact and is good at fighting. One can shoot and the other can fight. The "skill package" possessed by these two players is what the Rockets need.
Moreover, in the summer league, the two players have proved themselves in the game. The Rockets scored 5 wins and 1 loss in the summer league. In addition to the highlight performance of MVP striker Whitmore and the superior strength of Smith and Ethan, the contributions of Samuel and Mel in the lineup are indelible. This is also the basic guarantee for the two to stay in the Rockets.