Texas Notes: Porter, Rockets, Bullock, Murray

Rockets starting point guard Kevin Porter Jr. hopes to carve out his own path at the position, writes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Feigen notes that Houston is content to see Porter act as something of a score-first point guard, though he has grown as a passer.

“We’re in 2022,” Porter said, in reference to how his play is reflective of the position’s evolution. “I think (Stephen) Curry, he got the ‘traditional point guard’ label out. Since Steph, I don’t think there’s been like a traditional point guard moving forward, except for CP (Chris Paul) and (others) that have been already. I see myself definitely as a point guard, especially for this team. I want to be a point guard for the rest of my career.”

Porter is averaging 14.1 PPG, 6.0 APG and 4.1 RPG for the Rockets this season.

There’s more out of the Lone Star State:

  • The rebuilding Rockets are primed to add some blue-chip talent to their young roster in the 2022 draft. Kelly Iko and Sam Vecenie of The Athletic examine how several top projected lottery picks could fit Houston, including 7’1″ Gonzaga big man Chet Holmgren, Auburn forward Jabari Smith, Duke forward Paolo Banchero, Purdue guard Jaden Ivey, Iowa forward Keegan Murray, and Duke wing A.J. Griffin. Iko and Vecenie think it would behoove Houston to not necessarily think too much about positional overlap – particularly with incumbent starting center Christian Wood or point guard Kevin Porter Jr. – when considering draft prospects.
  • Veteran Mavericks shooting guard Reggie Bullock is back with Dallas following a three-game absence due to personal reasons, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link). Bullock in the first of a three-year, $30.5MM contract he signed with the Mavericks last summer, has seen his role reduced a little for a 43-28 Dallas team with serious playoff aspirations. After being a starter for the majority of the time since a 2017/18 NBA season spent with the Pistons, the 31-year-old out of North Carolina has toggled between the starting lineup and the bench for Dallas this year.
  • Given Spurs guard Dejounte Murray‘s own history with serious injuries (he tore his ACL in 2018), he has recently been reaching out to other NBA players dealing with their own difficult injury rehabs, writes Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News. Murray has talked to Warriors wing Klay Thompson, who has just returned this season after suffering ACL and Achilles tears in consecutive years, as well as Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, who continues to work his way back from a torn left ACL.
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