Rockets sign Demetrius Jackson

The NBA has expanded the team rosters up to 17 players this season, allowing for two additional spots for developing players who will spend the vast majority of the year in the NBA G-League (which used to be called the NBA D-League), and the Houston Rockets are taking advantage.

According to the Houston Chronicle, the Rockets have signed guard Demetrius Jackson to a two-way contract. The 6’1” point guard was originally drafted by the Boston Celtics in 2016’s second round out of Notre Dame, and he spent most of last year with the Celtics D-League team.

Jackson showed a knack for scoring in the D-League, averaging 14.8 points per game, and he rounded out a nice-looking stat line by also contributing 6.0 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game.

He also played well in the D-League playoffs, averaging a near-identical to the regular season 15.0 points and 5.8 assists in 5 playoff games.

He does need to work on his long-distance shooting, especially if he hopes to hang around with the Rockets. Jackson shot 27.5 percent from beyond the arc in his 32 D-League games, but he does have experience running the offense, as he started in 23 of the 32 contests.

He did play in 5 games this past year for the Celtics, but he averaged just 3.4 minutes per game, so he had no real stats of note at the NBA level.

Jackson’s two-way contract stipulates, per NBA rules, that he can spend no more than 45 days with the Rockets, so expect him to spend the bulk of the year playing for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. He’ll be a name to keep an eye on in the G-League, however.