Rockets restart player previews: Michael Frazier and William Howard

With the NBA scheduled to start back playing in the Orlando bubble at the end of the month, we thought it would be a good time to re-familiarize everyone with the entirety of the 17-man roster (up from 15) for the Houston Rockets. We’ll remind you what the first part of the year looked like for each player and then we’ll let you know what you can expect to see inside the bubble. Since we’ll be working our way up to the big dogs, we’ll start off with two guys we haven’t seen much of this year and don’t expect to see when the season restarts.

Michael Frazier

Jeffrey Swinger-USA TODAY Sports

History: Frazier went undrafted in the 2015 NBA Draft and bounced around the G-League and in Europe for several seasons before coming to the Rockets in 2018, where he was assigned to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. He showed enough potential — averaging 16.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.5 steals per game on 45 percent shooting from the field and 38 percent from three — that the Rockets signed him to a two-way deal this past fall.

The 6’3” shooting guard once again primarily played in Rio Grande Valley this year, though his stats slipped to 14.7 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.2 steals per game on 40 percent from the field 32 percent from beyond the arc. He did finally get a crack with the varsity, getting called up to the Rockets in January. He played in eight games, averaging just 8.3 minutes per contest.

Outlook: Frazier will stay on the 17-man roster in the Orlando bubble, but if he sees any real action, that means the Rockets have some serious injury troubles.

William Howard

Photo by Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images

History: Howard is a 6’8” swingman who cut his chops in the French league before eventually signing with the Utah Jazz in the summer of 2019. He played for their G-League affiliate, the Salt Lake Stars, but was waived in October and signed a two-way deal with the Rockets in December 2019. He was also assigned to Rio Grande Valley, and looked decent at times, finishing with averages of 12.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1.7 steals per game. He shot 44 percent from the field and 32 percent from three. He also played in two games for the Rockets before the shutdown, averaging just 6.5 minutes per contest.

Outlook: The Rockets obviously think he has some potential since they signed him to a two-way earlier this season, and they’re carrying him on the 17-man, but much like with Frazier, if he’s seeing court time after the restart, that means Houston’s in a world of injury trouble.

Keep an eye on both of these guys for the future!