19th person? The 37-year-old veteran almost joined the Rockets! Tough guy point guard showdown: salary space becomes a stumbling block

The current Houston Rockets have already had 18 players in the lineup through a summer of trading and signing. Among them, 14 players held standard NBA contracts, three held two-way contracts, and one Kam Matthews held a training camp contract. In this case, the Rockets will probably bring these 19 people into the training camp and preseason for the new season. After all, a team can have a lineup of 20 players before the start of the new season. The Rockets are expected to streamline some lineups, which will eventually comply with the league's regulations, with up to 15 players with formal contracts and three players with two-way contracts in the regular season.

However, the Rockets now seem to have both shortcomings in the point guard position and the shooting guard position, and I believe everyone has also seen the point guard position. Although the Rockets now have Shepard, Holiday and main point guard Van Vreet, Holiday is short and has average organizational ability; Shepard's performance last season was quite disappointing, and there were not many highlights in the summer league. Although Van Vreet is reliable, he is one year older and I don’t know how in the next season.

As for the shooting guard position, after losing Jaylen Green, the Rockets now do not have a standard shooting guard. Many predictions believe that Amen Thompson will play a guest shot guard next season, so if manager Stone can find a point guard or a shooting guard for the Rockets, it will be extremely helpful to supplement the lineup. In fact, the Rockets have almost signed the 19th man in the lineup recently. He is the Rockets' former player and 37-year-old veteran Patrick Beverly.

You should know that Beverly was the starting point guard of the Rockets back then. He and Harden were in the backcourt and performed very well in one offense and one defense. Harden had poor defense ability at the time, but his scoring and organizational ability were super strong. Coach McHal equipped Harden with a tough guy point guard who could provide excellent defense at that time, which is why. Although Beverly is older now, his defensive ability is still quite good and his competitive state is also very stable.

In an interview, Beverly showed up directly, saying he almost returned to the Rockets in the offseason because he has been training with the Rockets in Houston for the past two or three weeks. At that time, he was very close to signing with the Rockets, but since the Rockets were about to approach the first hard salary cap, the Rockets had no salary space at all to sign any players. Because the Rockets could not give Beverly any guarantee, Beverly did not join Houston in the end. However, Beverly directly stated that he was really close to joining the Rockets at that time.

In other words, cap space has become a stumbling block for Beverly to return to Houston. Like Capela, Beverly has been paying attention to the Rockets' movements. After all, Beverly played the peak of his career among the Rockets back then. Now 37-year-old Beverly can provide the Rockets with tough defense and stable ball possession. As the third point guard, he should be very suitable for the Rockets. More importantly, Beverly is a double-athlete defender who can hold the ball in hand and play in the role of off-ball. His excellent defense is even more favored by Uduka.

If the Rockets can free up their salary space, then Beverly may be the 19th player signed by the Rockets. So, it remains to be seen whether Beverly can join the Rockets in the end.