The Houston Rockets will always be down to nab natural scoring guards like they did with the former St. John’s standout floor general Shamorie Ponds. A thinner bench for the Rockets got a lot of help by nabbing Ponds, who somehow fell out of the second round.
Originally projected to fall off the board around the late first or early second round, Ponds looked to be a target for the Chicago Bulls to nab at No. 38. Landing Gafford instead is by no means a downgrade. But the fact that the Bulls could’ve nabbed both Gafford and Ponds to upgrade the backcourt seems like a miss on the part of the front office.
We also don’t mean to imply that the Bulls should be getting every player on this list that went undrafted. That’s just not possible, but Ponds could be a Summer League standout for the Rockets and has a good chance of making the roster this coming regular season. He also gets to learn from a bona fide superstar in MVP contending shooting guard James Harden.
Ponds averaged 19.7 points per game, 4.1 rebounds, and 5.1 assists all while posting a player efficiency rating of 26.9 during his junior campaign. The 6-foot-1 and 175 pound point guard does have scoring ability that should allow him to fit the role of an offensive spark plug for a second or third unit off the bench.