Rockets' failed project went back to dominating as star on new team

Jack McVeigh, who spent last season on a two-way contract with the Houston Rockets, has since returned to the NBL and is dominating as one of the league’s top stars. Before joining Houston, McVeigh was a top player in the NBL, and just because his time in the NBA didn’t pan out doesn’t mean he’s not a good player.

In fact, quite the opposite is true. McVeigh hasn’t missed a beat since leaving (and going back to) the NBL. He was one of the best players in the league when he left, and he is one of the best players in the league now that he’s back. Unfortunately for the Rockets, he just didn’t work out while he was in Houston.

But he’s still an elite basketball player.

How good is Jack McVeigh?

McVeigh is a 6-foot-8, 29-year-old forward who spent most of his time with the Rockets in the G League playing for the Rio Grande Vipers last season. And for what it’s worth, he was pretty solid in the G League.

In 37 appearances with the Vipers, McVeigh played 30.4 minutes, averaging 15.7 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.5 assists while shooting 42.6% from the floor and 35.5% from deep range on 8.6 three-point attempts per contest.

That said, McVeigh only ever appeared in nine games for the big club, and he didn’t shoot the ball very well in his limited opportunities playing in Houston.

The Rockets clearly didn’t see enough from McVeigh to warrant keeping him around (or he just wanted to go back to being a star in the NBL, since he’s from Australia).

When he got back to the NBL, McVeigh joined Cairns, which is a team he’s never played for before. Prior to this stint in the NBL, McVeigh played for Adelaide (three seasons) and Tasmania (three seasons).

Now, with Cairns, McVeigh is having one of the best seasons of his professional basketball career, though his efficiency is down a bit from the last time he played in the NBL.

In his first 14 games with Cairns this season, McVeigh has played 35.7 minutes per contest (which is the second-most of any player in the league).

He is averaging 20.2 points (sixth-most in the NBL), 6.8 rebounds (12th-most), and 5.1 assists (sixth-most) while shooting 48.8% from the floor and 34.6% from deep on 5.8 three-point attempts per contest.

McVeigh has a real case for being the best player in the entire NBL this season (thuogh Bryce Cotton would like a word with that statement).