Rockets Promote JD Davison To Standard Roster
2:55 pm: The Rockets have made it official, announcing Davison’s new deal in a press release.
2:05 pm: The Rockets have agreed to a two-year contract with guard JD Davison and will promote him to their standard 15-man roster, agent Corey Marcum tells ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link). The second year of Davison’s deal will be a team option, add Varun Shankar of The Washington Post (Twitter link).
Davison, who previously spent three seasons with Boston, has appeared in a career-high 27 games for the Rockets this season but has played sparingly, logging just 192 total minutes. He’s averaging 2.2 points and 1.0 assist in 7.1 minutes per contest.
Although Davison has only seen action in 27 games, he has been active for 23 more, so he had reached his 50-game limit and was ineligible to play again in 2025/26 unless he was promoted to Houston’s standard roster.
As we outlined on Monday, in addition to the fact that Davison had hit his personal 50-game cap, the Rockets had used up all 90 of their “under-15” games. Teams are only permitted to use their two-way players for a combined total of 90 games if they’re carrying fewer than 15 players on standard contracts, and Houston reached that limit.
Promoting Davison will address both issues for the Rockets. He’ll now be able to play in the team’s remaining regular season games and in the postseason, with his 50-game limit no longer in place. Meanwhile, Houston will also be able to its other two-way players (Tristen Newton and Isaiah Crawford) during the final week of the regular season, if needed, since the club will have a full 15-man roster.
Southwest Notes: Wemby, Champagnie, Pels, Rockets, Davison
Spurs center Victor Wembanyama missed last Thursday’s win at the Clippers with a right ankle injury that has been bothering him for multiple weeks, writes Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News.
“That ankle is still angry at him,” head coach Mitch Johnson said.
Despite the discomfort, the two-time All-Star big man has been putting up spectacular statistics lately, McDonald notes, and Johnson suggested Wembanyama was held out Thursday for precautionary reasons — it was the second night of a back-to-back.
Wembanyama, 22, needs to play in two of San Antonio’s final four regular season games to qualify for major postseason awards. He’s only at 62 appearances right now, but the NBA Cup final counts toward the 65-game minimum requirement even though the statistics from that game aren’t officially recorded.
Here’s more from around the Southwest:
- Julian Champagnie set the Spurs‘ single-season record for three-pointers made in Saturday’s overtime loss in Denver, per McDonald. The fourth-year small forward converted six threes during the game, moving him up to 192 on the season, one past Danny Green, who set the previous record in 2014/15. “Obviously I put the work in and I’m confident in my own abilities,” the 24-year-old Champagnie said, “but any record you get to break in this league is a blessing.”
- The Pelicans aren’t trying to lose games because they don’t control their first-round pick, but they haven’t had any success trying to win games lately either, according to Rod Walker of NOLA.com. New Orleans blew a 17-point lead during Friday’s loss at Sacramento, then followed that up with a four-point home loss to Orlando. The Pelicans are riding an eight-game losing streak with three games left on their schedule.
- Rockets head coach Ime Udoka has been rotating between Tari Eason and Reed Sheppard as the fifth starter the past couple weeks. William Guillory of The Athletic examines which player makes sense to stick in the starting unit, suggesting that Eason gives the team a higher floor while Sheppard provides a higher ceiling. “Me and Tari have talked to each other, and neither one of us care who starts,” Sheppard said. “It doesn’t matter to us. We just want to win.” Who finishes the game is ultimately more important than who starts, Guillory observes, but this could also be an important “crossroads” for both Houston and Sheppard, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 draft.
- Fourth-year guard JD Davison has reached the 50-game active limit and won’t be able to suit up for the Rockets‘ final four regular season games unless he’s promoted to a standard contract, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac. Davison, last season’s G League MVP as a member of the Celtics, is currently on a two-way contract. The Rockets have also reached their under-15 limit, Smith adds, so unless they add a 15th player, their other two-way players can’t be active for the rest of the season either.
Bucks’ Nance Among Two-Way Players Nearing Game Limit
Bucks forward Pete Nance had one of his best games of the season in Tuesday’s loss to Cleveland, scoring 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting, grabbing seven rebounds, and blocking two shots. Although Milwaukee lost the game by a score of 123-116, Nance was a +7 during his 30 minutes of action.
As Keith Smith of Spotrac observes (via Twitter), it was the 29th consecutive game – and the 47th overall – in which Nance was active. That’s important because the 26-year-old is on a two-way contract, which comes with a limit of 50 active games.
The Bucks still have 14 games left on their regular season schedule, but if they want Nance to be active for more than three of those contests, they’d have to promote him to their standard 15-man roster, which is currently full.
Most promotions from a two-way contract to a standard deal in a given league year occur between the trade deadline and March 4. That way, teams don’t prematurely fill a roster spot they might need for a deadline deal and have the ability to back-fill a newly opened two-way slot on or before March 4, the deadline to sign players to two-way contracts. Promoting a two-way player to the 15-man roster after that deadline means that a club would have to leave one of its two-way slots open for the rest of the season.
Promotions can still happen between March 5 and the end of the regular season, but it’s a less pressing priority for teams who don’t have 15-man roster spots available and/or won’t need their two-way standouts for the postseason. The Bucks, whose playoff chances are on life support, probably fall into both of those categories, so it will be interesting to see whether they feel compelled to make a move with Nance as he nears his 50-game limit.
Here are the other players are on two-way contracts around the NBA who have fewer than 10 games of eligibility remaining (their remaining games are noted in parentheses):
- Moussa Cisse, Mavericks (4)
JD Davison, Rockets (4)
Tyrese Martin, Sixers (4) - Caleb Love, Trail Blazers (5)
David Roddy, Nuggets (5) - Tristan Enaruna, Cavaliers (6)
Blake Hinson, Jazz (6)
Rayan Rupert, Grizzlies (6)
Payton Sandfort, Thunder (6)
Dalen Terry, Sixers (6) - Norchad Omier, Clippers (7)
Nate Williams, Warriors (7) - Patrick Baldwin Jr., Kings (8)
Jamal Cain, Magic (8)
Julian Reese, Wizards (8) - Trevor Keels, Heat (9)
KJ Simpson, Nuggets (9)
Jalen Slawson, Pacers (9)
Ethan Thompson, Pacers (9)
Chris Youngblood, Trail Blazers (9)
Some of these players were just signed a couple weeks ago and didn’t have that many games of two-way eligibility to begin with, so the fact that they’re nearing their limit isn’t a big deal for their respective teams.
Sandfort, for instance, joined the Thunder on March 2, giving him 12 total games of regular season eligibility. He has been active for six, but has a DNP-CD in all of them. It’s safe to assume Oklahoma City won’t be looking to find a way to promote him to its standard roster.
Others on this list were regular contributors earlier in the season but have been deactivated since they got close to their respective limits. Cisse, for example, was at 42 active games at the trade deadline, but has been in the Mavericks’ lineup for just four of 18 contests since then. Davison and Love are among the others who have found themselves exiled to the inactive list on a permanent basis in recent weeks. Their teams have gotten by without them lately and don’t appear to be prioritizing promotions.
That doesn’t mean none of these players will be converted to standard contracts by April 12 though. The Jazz, Warriors, and Magic are among the teams that have open roster spots, so Hinson, Williams, and Cain, each of whom has been seeing a decent amount of playing time recently, should be considered candidates to fill those openings.
Blazers’ Cissoko Latest Two-Way Player To Reach Active Game Limit
Several teams will head into the NBA’s All-Star break with roster decisions to make before their schedules resume next week. One of those teams in the Trail Blazers, who deployed two-way player Sidy Cissoko for his 50th game of the season on Thursday in Utah.
Cissoko, who made his 24th start of the season and played 30 minutes in Portland’s win over the Jazz, has now reached the active game limit for two-way players and will no longer be able to suit up for the NBA team unless he’s promoted from his two-way contract to the Blazers’ standard 15-man roster.
Cissoko is one of several players in that boat, along with Nuggets forward Spencer Jones, Timberwolves guard Johnny Juzang, and Sixers forward Jabari Walker. All four two-way players have been active for 50 NBA games this season.
Cissoko and Jones have emerged as key contributors for their respective teams and will likely be promoted to standard contracts sooner rather than later. The Nuggets might have taken that route with Jones already if not for the concussion that sidelined him for the final three games before the All-Star break, which allowed the team to put off an official roster move for an extra couple weeks.
Denver has two openings on its 15-man roster, so no corresponding move will be necessary to promote Jones, making the club’s decision even more straightforward.
That’s not the case in Portland though, where one of the team’s 15 players currently holding standard contracts will need to be cut if the Blazers want to promote Cissoko. If the team decides to convert both Cissoko and its other standout two-way player, Caleb Love (who is at 45 active games), two cuts would be required. Rayan Rupert and Matisse Thybulle have been mentioned as possible odd men out, but that’s not necessarily a given.
There’s less urgency for certain other teams whose two-way players have reached – or are fast approaching – their active game limits. For instance, while Juzang has been active for 50 games this season, he only actually saw the floor in 21 of them — he was a DNP-CD in the other 29. As such, it’s perhaps no surprise that the Wolves haven’t rushed to promote him to the standard roster. Juzang was on the inactive list for Minnesota’s last three games prior to the All-Star break.
Rockets two-way guard JD Davison is another player nearing his 50-game limit (he has five games left), but like Juzang, he hasn’t been a crucial part of his team’s rotation when he’s active. Davison has appeared in 24 games and been a DNP-CD in 21 others. With that in mind, Houston may not be in a rush to move him to the 15-man roster when he gets to his game limit.
It’s also worth noting that promoting a two-way player or leaving him in limbo aren’t the only two options a team has at its disposal after he reaches his active game limit. When two-way player Chris Youngblood found himself in that situation last week, the Thunder decided to waive him, recognizing that there was no room for him on their 15-man roster and wanting to give him the chance to explore other opportunities before the end of the season.
Mavericks guard Ryan Nembhard (six games left) and center Moussa Cisse (eight games left), Wizards big man Tristan Vukcevic (nine games left), Pelicans guard Bryce McGowens (nine games left), and Suns guard Jamaree Bouyea (10 games left) are among the other notable two-way players whose teams will have roster decisions to make in the coming weeks.
The full list of players who have already been converted from two-way deals to standard contracts can be found here.
Spencer Jones Among Two-Way Players Nearing Active-Game Limit
Second-year forward Spencer Jones has emerged as a key part of the Nuggets‘ rotation this season, starting 31 games and averaging 23.5 minutes per night for the Western Conference’s No. 3 team. However, Jones’ two-way contract only allows him to be eligible for up to 50 regular season games and he’s just three away from that limit — he has appeared in 43 contests and was a DNP-CD in four more early in the season.
While the Nuggets have let Jones and his representatives know that they want to promote him to the standard roster, the 24-year-old is also aware he may run out of games before that happens, writes Bennett Durando of The Denver Post (subscription required).
“You want to figure out, where you’ve got a championship push, everything you need to make that push. So yeah, I always knew the decision wasn’t going to be until the (trade) deadline, (that it) won’t be decided until around then,” Jones said. “I may run out of games before then. So they’ve mentioned the possibility of sitting out one or two just ’cause. So we’ll see how it pans out.”
Denver has an open spot on its 15-man roster, so the front office could convert Jones’ contract today without making a corresponding move. However, the Nuggets will likely want to hold that spot open for a few more days to maximize their roster flexibility at the trade deadline.
The Nuggets are also operating above the luxury tax line by about $400K and have reportedly made it a priority to finish this season as a non-taxpayer. That means Jones might have to wait for his promotion until after Denver makes a move to shed a little salary.
If they were to trade one of their lowest-paid players without taking back any salary, the Nuggets could sign Jones and remain below the tax line due to the gap between a full-season and prorated salary. For instance, Hunter Tyson‘s deal features a $2,221,677 cap hit, whereas a minimum-salary contract for Jones would count for just $871K as of February 6 (Denver could also use a portion of its mid-level exception to sign Jones for more than the minimum).
“Whatever happens with Spence, he’ll be fine. What he’s done and what he’s put on tape is a professional basketball player that belongs in a rotation,” head coach David Adelman said. “And he’s earned it. … We’ll figure it out. What that means, I don’t know. And those are Ben (Tenzer) and Jon (Wallace) questions; we’ll have that conversation with them. But we’ll do the best we can do for (Jones) and for the whole roster as we go forward.”
As Durando points out (via Twitter), Jones got a bit of a reprieve when the Nuggets had a game postponed last Sunday and rescheduled for March. But Denver still plays four times between now and next Thursday’s deadline, so if the club isn’t ready to promote Jones until after the deadline, he’ll have to sit out one of those four contests.
There are several other two-way players around the NBA who are nearing their active game limits. Here are the players who are within 10 of the limit, with the number of games they have remaining noted in parentheses:
- Chris Youngblood, Thunder (2)
- Pat Spencer, Warriors (3)
- Jabari Walker, Sixers (3)
- Note: The Sixers have reached their limit of 90 “under-15” two-way games and must maintain a full 15-man standard roster to use their two-way players.
- Daniss Jenkins, Pistons (4)
- Johnny Juzang, Timberwolves (4)
- Nae’Qwan Tomlin, Cavaliers (5)
- Sidy Cissoko, Trail Blazers (7)
- JD Davison, Rockets (8)
- Ryan Nembhard, Mavericks (9)
- Caleb Love, Trail Blazers (10)
- Kobe Sanders, Clippers (10)
Rockets Notes: Capela, Smith, Thompson, Sheppard, Davison
It came as a bit of a surprise in free agency when the Rockets, with Alperen Sengun and Steven Adams on multiyear deals in the middle, made a deal to reacquire Clint Capela, who spent the first six years of his NBA career in Houston. But with the Rockets leaning into bigger lineups, they valued the opportunity to bring back Capela, and he reciprocated their interest, suggesting that he had unfinished business in Houston.
“I feel like when I left (Houston in a 2020 trade), it was something that wasn’t done,” Capela said, according to Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required). “What I’ve missed the most is the fans, the support that I feel about the city. Whenever I left, that’s when I realized how special it was to represent this team in the city and be able to be, really, a real contender. I really missed that, and that’s why I feel that it’s so special to be here with this team.”
After experimenting last season by playing Sengun and Adams alongside one another, head coach Ime Udoka views Capela as a player he can use either as the lone big man in a five-man unit or next to Sengun in a jumbo frontcourt.
“(Capela) is a different player as far as rim protection, lob threat,” Udoka said. “Even probably out of those three (centers), he might switch and move his feet the best. Alpi’s good as well, but all those things. And then, like I said, with Alpi’s versatility, he could play with either of them. Alpi seems to be more aggressive when he has another big guy behind him.”
We have more on the Rockets:
- The Rockets opened their preseason schedule on Monday with a 122-113 victory over Atlanta. Lerner and William Guillory of The Athletic share the key takeaways from that game, including Jabari Smith Jr. looking comfortable in his return to the starting lineup and Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard sharing ball-handling duties evenly when they were on the court together.
- While Thompson and Sheppard figure to be Houston’s primary ball-handlers with Fred VanVleet out due to a torn ACL, two-way player JD Davison did his best on Monday to show he deserves consideration for rotation minutes, as Brian Robb of MassLive.com writes. Davison had 17 points and four assists in 22 minutes of action, with five made three-pointers. “He’s been great,” Udoka said of the former Celtic. “Very aggressive, handles well, makes good decisions out of the pick and roll. He’s a big body who can pick up full court, so he brings aggression on both sides of the ball. He’s taken advantage of the opportunity.”
- An ESPN panel explores the impact that VanVleet’s injury will have on the Rockets this season, with Kevin Pelton outlining why Houston might actually miss the veteran point guard more on the defensive end of the court, while Bobby Marks explains why the team isn’t in a great position at the moment to trade for or sign a replacement point guard.
Atlantic Notes: Davison, Simmons, Shamet, Nets
The financial implications of waiving guard JD Davison are why the Celtics ultimately made the move, Brian Robb of MassLive writes. By letting go of Davison, the Celtics slid under the second apron by approximately $1.9MM with 14 players on the roster.
By moving under the apron, the Celtics can send out cash in a trade, can aggregate salaries and are beginning the path to opening their 2032 pick up for trade. As Robb explains, once Boston stays under the second apron for three straight seasons, they’ll unfreeze that pick.
Cutting Davison now as opposed to later allowed him to reach a two-way deal in Houston, where he’ll reunite with former Boston head coach Ime Udoka.
We have more notes from the Atlantic Division:
- Ben Simmons and Landry Shamet continue to be candidates for a spot on the Knicks‘ 15-man roster, Ian Begley of SNY writes in a mailbag. As has been previously reported, the Knicks are among the teams awaiting Simmons’ decision, and Begley suggests that several staffers have interest in bringing back Shamet for a second season as well. As Begley writes, the Knicks have enough room under the second apron to bring in one veteran and one draft-rights player on a rookie deal. 2025 second-round Mohamed Diawara looks like a top candidate for that latter role, though that’s speculation.
- In a subscriber-only story, Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post writes that by taking a discount on his extension, Mikal Bridges put himself in rare air and established himself as a core Knick for years to come.
- The Nets announced their preseason schedule for the upcoming season, NetsDaily relayed. The only home game on the four-game schedule is a tilt against Hapoel Jerusalem.
JD Davison Signs Two-Way Contract With Rockets
9:53 pm: Davison has signed a two-way contract, per NBA.com’s transaction log. It will be a one-year deal, since Davison is entering his fourth NBA season.
8:33 pm: JD Davison, who was waived by the Celtics on Thursday, has agreed to a contract with the Rockets, agent Corey Marcum of EZ Sports Group tells NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter link).
Houston doesn’t have enough room under its first-apron hard cap to offer a standard contract, so Davison could receive a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 deal. As a three-year veteran, he is still eligible for a two-way contract, so he’ll have a chance to compete in training camp for one of the Rockets’ openings.
The 22-year-old combo guard got into a combined 36 games during his three seasons in Boston after being selected with the 53rd pick in the 2022 draft. He played on two-way contracts the entire time before being converted to a standard deal on the final day of last season.
The Celtics exercised their 2025/26 team option on Davison in late June, but his $2.27MM salary for next season was non-guaranteed. He wound up being a casualty of Boston’s cost-cutting mission in an effort to move below the second apron.
Davison earned G League MVP honors with the Maine Celtics last season. In 45 total games, he averaged 25.6 points, 7.7 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 34.6 minutes per night with .482/.332/.762 shooting numbers.
Celtics Notes: Lillard, Starting Lineup, Davison, Gonzalez
The Celtics were reported as a potential landing spot for Damian Lillard after he was waived and stretched by Milwaukee, but Lillard never gave serious thought to joining anyone but the Trail Blazers, writes Brian Robb of MassLive. At an introductory press conference this week in Portland, Lillard expressed his excitement over returning to his former team and mentioned a recruiting effort by Jrue Holiday.
“As soon as I was waived and obviously [Jrue] knows that I live here and built my home here and stuff,” Lillard said. “He sent me the eyeball emoji. I kind of knew already like — I already knew where I was pivoting to when he sent it but I didn’t want to say nothing too soon, so here we are.”
Although Lillard isn’t expected to play this season while recovering from a torn Achilles, he could have been an intriguing long-term investment for Boston once Jayson Tatum returns from his own Achilles injury. However, Robb points out that the Celtics couldn’t have come close to matching the three-year, $42MM deal Lillard got from the Blazers. They are currently limited to the $5.685MM taxpayer mid-level exception, and using that exception would have required other moves to get far enough below the second apron.
There’s more from Boston:
- In a mailbag column, Robb projects Neemias Queta to be the Celtics’ starting center on opening night if the current roster remains in place. Jaylen Brown and Derrick White are the only certain members of the starting five, and Robb expects the other two positions to come down to decisions between Payton Pritchard and Anfernee Simons, and between Sam Hauser and Georges Niang with Josh Minott as a possible wild card.
- This week’s release of JD Davison was a result of him not showing sufficient NBA potential during his three years with the organization, Robb adds in the same piece. He puts the chances of Ben Simmons being signed to fill the open roster spot at “10-20%,” stating that the former No. 1 overall pick will likely get better financial offers elsewhere.
- Spanish basketball legend Rudy Fernandez offers a ringing endorsement of Celtics’ first-round pick Hugo Gonzalez, per Zack Cox of The Boston Herald. Fernandez watched the 19-year-old shooting guard develop from a young prospect into a regular contributor with Real Madrid. “I always tried to instill in him the idea of committing to improving the team whenever he’s on the floor, and he’s done that perfectly,” Fernandez said. “He’s got the physical tools, good hands, a strong understanding of the game on both ends, and he’s a solid standstill shooter. Maybe he could improve his movement shooting, especially coming off screens, but he’s the type of player who gets better every day.”
Celtics Release JD Davison
The Celtics have waived guard JD Davison, the team announced (via Twitter).
Boston exercised its 2025/26 team option on Davison at the end of June. However, as we noted at the time, Davison’s $2.27MM salary for next season is fully non-guaranteed, so the Celtics won’t incur a cap hit by releasing him.
According to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe (Twitter link), cutting Davison has moved the Celtics under the punitive second tax apron, giving the team more maneuverability on the trade market.
The Celtics selected Davison 53rd overall in the 2022 draft after he played one college season at Alabama. The 22-year-old had spent virtually all of the past three campaigns on a two-way deal with Boston, but was converted to a multiyear standard contract just before the ’24/25 regular season ended.
While Davison’s NBA contributions have been very modest to this point – 36 total regular season appearances for a total of 198 minutes over his three seasons – he has been a standout performer in the G League, including winning the MVP award with the Maine Celtics in ’24/25.
Davison appeared in 45 combined games with Maine last season, averaging 25.6 points, 7.7 assists, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.4 steals in 34.6 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .482/.332/.762.
The Celtics now have 15 players on their standard roster.