Houston Rockets Summer League standout signs deal with Kings

It's never wise to invest in Summer League results.

Teams don't invest resources in those results. So, fans shouldn't invest emotions in them. Yet, sometimes, it's hard to avoid. We may see someone in Summer League who we badly want - even against our better judgment.

It happened to us this year. It likely happened to several fans of the Houston Rockets. We openly advocated for the Rockets to find a two-way contract for Orlando Robinson.

It turns out that the Sacramento Kings liked what they saw from him too.

Houston Rockets Summer League standout signs contract

Robinson has agreed to a one-year deal with the Kings.

This doesn't come as a shock. Robinson averaged 14.2 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 1.0 steals in just 23.5 minutes per game during Summer League with the Rockets.

His versatile skillset was on full display. Robinson showed a capacity to defend in space. He flashed some exceptional positional passing, and a strong ability to space the floor.

Did the Rockets drop the ball?

Houston Rockets couldn't afford to retain young big

Well, no.

We said that the Rockets should find room for a two-way contract for Robinson. The Kings didn't offer him a two-way deal - they gave him a full-fledged NBA deal. The Rockets didn't have a roster spot for him.

Besides, Sacramento is a better situation for him. In Houston, he'd be on standby waiting for an injury. He stood little chance of surpassing Steven Adams in the rotation, and he may have struggled to even find playing time over Jock Landale.

In Sacramento, he'll be the defacto third-string big man. Moreover, he'll only be competing with Alex Len for the primary backup spot. That's a competition that Robinson has a chance of winning. This is a better situation for Robinson:

No matter how badly we wanted him.