With the calendar about to switch over to September, the NBA inches closer and closer to a new season. The Houston Rockets and the rest of the NBA won’t officially be back on the court until the end of the month, when teams start training camp, but the Rockets are still filling out the end of their bench as the season approaches.
The Rockets’ likely main rotation of their five starters, Tari Eason, Reed Sheppard, Steven Adams, Marcus Smart, and Bogdan Bogdanovic, is set in stone to start the season.
Players like Clint Capela and Jae’Sean Tate will play sparingly depending on other players resting and injuries. Other players on the roster, such as rookie Bruce Thornton, will spend most of their time with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. The Rockets did make another move Wednesday as they fill out their last two-way deal.
Who is Rafael Castro?
Rafael Castro is a 6-10 center out of George Washington. Castro played all four seasons in college, playing three of those seasons at Providence before transferring to George Washington. Castro is a defensive-minded center but also showed some offensive skills.
In his junior and senior years, he averaged 15.6 points and shot 64.4 percent from the field. However, it was on defense that he made his name, as he was a two-time Atlantic 10 All-Defensive Team selection and a finalist for the 2025-26 Lefty Driesell National Defensive Player of the Year Award. Castro averaged 1.52 blocks and 1.48 steals in his final two seasons in college. Castro played three games for Milwaukee in this year’s Summer League, where he averaged 2 points and 2.4 rebounds in 13.3 minutes a game
Castro will spend most of his time with the Vipers as he continues to develop his skills, since playing in the G League will give him the minutes he needs to round out his game. Chances are slim that he will play at all for the Rockets this season, with the team already having three centers, but as in every season, you never know how it will play out.
In a related move, the Rockets released guard Tristen Newton, who played mainly for the Vipers last season. The Rockets also released another guard, JD Davison, a few weeks ago, as the backcourt rotation was already set with Fred VanVleet’s return and Smart as his backup.
