Compared to last season, the Rockets' player turnover this season has slowed down significantly. Last season's Rockets have been in a state of "old and new", Harden, Tucker, McLemore and other players have left the Rockets, and many new players have become the core players of the Rockets, such as Wood, Porter Jr. and Tate. The Rockets' roster has not changed much this season, and the Rockets haven't done much except to cut House.
Now house has found his place with the Knicks, and the Rockets have also used a full player slot vacated by House to sign goalscorer Garrison Matthews for a four-year-old salary and sign 23-year-old small forward Trevlin Quinn from the development league on a two-way contract vacated by Matthews.
In the previous few Rocket games, Quinn had a total of 4 appearances, and he only appeared in garbage time in the first 3 games, but in the fourth game against the Hornets, Quinn was given 29 minutes to play, and he contributed 17 points in a single game, ushering in an outbreak of his NBA career.
While Quinn was able to play and enter the Rockets' rotation, in the Rockets' showdown with the Lakers, Silas apparently didn't want to use Quinn, and he used a leaner 8-man rotation model, and Quinn was directly hidden in the snow. Just after a 17-point outburst and was abandoned in the next game, Quinn still needs more playing opportunities if he wants to be based on the Rockets.
Unfortunately, his timing for the Rockets was not good enough, Quinn played in garbage time in the previous few games, and now the Rockets' outside line is not short of players, Nuwaba is back in the rotation lineup, and Jaylen Green has returned and scored 44 points in two games.
In the game with the Lakers, the Rockets' main point guard Porter Jr. returned in time, although Quinn's position with Green and Porter Jr. was different, but as an outside player, Porter Jr. and Green got more playing time, which also meant that Quinn's chances of playing were more slim.
He hasn't been able to secure a stable rotation and has been largely forgotten — Quinn has been sitting on the cold bench during the Rockets' game against the Lakers. Even newcomers like Christopher have been reused, and although Martin Jr., Augustine and Matthews are absent due to health and safety agreements, it is believed that the three will return to the team in a short time. When the time comes, Quinn may be sent to the Development Alliance to exercise.
The "overcrowded" Rockets' outside line doesn't have a place for Quinn at all — unless he can play at the quasi-All-Star level in the Rockets' regular season game like Matthews. Unfortunately, the current Rockets are different from the past, many outside players have returned to the team, and players such as Nuwaba and Christopher still have to work hard for a rotation position, not to mention Quinn, who has no experience and no strength.
True, Quinn, like Garrison Matthews, is from the Development League Vipers, but the two are not a genre at all. Matthews was a rotation player for the Wizards last season, and it was only because the contract was not negotiated that he committed himself to the Rockets and was temporarily sent to the development league. Quinn, on the other hand, has no NBA experience at all, and hasn't played in the NBA's official regular playoffs except for a few preseason games with the Lakers.
Now that Jaylen Green is back, Porter Jr. has made his comeback debut, and Tate, Martin Jr., Matthews, and Augustine will also return soon, so Silas's attempts to try different lineup configurations and try to use different players have been interrupted.
Although Quinn and Matthews are both from the development league, it has to be said that Quinn's ability and Matthews are hugely different, and matthews has a performance at the moment when the Rockets' outside line is extremely short of people, and now that time has passed, the Rockets' outside players have squeezed their heads in order to play time, and naturally there is no Quinn's place. He wants to be the Rockets' "next Matthews," which is unlikely.