Friday July 10 marked the start of the Houston Rockets’ Summer League campaign. Unlike previous years, Houston does not have top lottery talent, or even a player picked in the first round competing, but second-round pick Bruce Thornton stepped up to deliver a performance sure to excite fans, as Thornton delivered 27 points in 35 minutes in a 97-86 victory over the Denver Nuggets.
Houston traded with the New York Knicks to acquire the 31st pick in this year’s draft in order to select Thornton, who
previously played at Ohio State. Houston’s front office later signed Bruce to a standard NBA contract, so he will be eligible to receive regular NBA playing time in the 2026-2027 season.
The physical 6-foot guard finished with a game-high 27 points while leading Houston to a 97-86 victory (box score) over the Denver Nuggets; the Rockets went +20 in his 35 minutes, best of any player on the floor; he made all seven of his free-throw attempts; his true shooting finished at a solid 64.0%; in addition to scoring, he added three assists, three rebounds, and three steals, the latter of which demonstrated his ability to make plays defensively and committed just one turnover while frequently handling the ball for Houston.
Thornton’s ball-handling is the biggest story here, in my opinion. Everyone knows that Houston struggled without Fred VanVleet last season since they had no real traditional point guard/table setter to initiate the offense. While they tried using Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard, it’s pretty clear that they were playing outside their best roles. If Thornton can learn under VanVleet, it will help place less of a burden on Fred, who is coming back from a significant injury.
With all that said, I am excited to see how Thornton looks in the rest of Houston’s Summer League games and hopefully into the regular NBA season. As always, make sure to check back at The Dream Shake for all your Rockets’ news.
