NBA Notes: Kings, Gabe Vincent, Clippers, Jordan Miller, Rockets

Kings

The Kings apparently intend to look under every rock for another guard before training camp. Gabe Vincent is the latest name to surface.

Per Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report, Sacramento is among the teams considering Vincent, who remains available after spending the past three seasons with the Lakers. A return to the Heat is also a possibility, while Fischer reports that Vincent previously passed on an offer from the Hawks.

Sacramento has been linked to just about every veteran guard still looking for work, including Ben Simmons, Victor Oladipo, Cameron Payne and Elfrid Payton. General manager Scott Perry watched Simmons work out in Florida on Tuesday, as we noted earlier.

The idea is pretty straightforward. The Kings drafted Darius Acuff Jr. to run the show, but asking a rookie to handle everything from Day 1 probably isn’t the greatest plan ever devised.

Sacramento has 13 players on standard contracts and sits roughly $5.3 million below the luxury-tax line after stretching DeMar DeRozan‘s salary, per Hoops Rumors. So another guard is almost certainly coming.

At this rate, we may eventually stumble across the one they actually sign.

Clippers

Jordan Miller‘s season may be over before it starts.

The Clippers wing underwent surgery Wednesday to repair a torn rotator cuff in his left shoulder, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported. Miller suffered the injury during an offseason workout and is expected to be reevaluated in about six months.

That’s a brutal development for Miller, who had just earned some security after his best NBA season.

Miller averaged 10.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 60 games last year, eventually turning his two-way contract into a standard deal. The Clippers then re-signed him to a three-year, $15.3 million contract in July.

Only the first season is fully guaranteed, though, with a non-guaranteed salary for 2027-28 and team option for 2028-29.

In other words, this was supposed to be another season for Miller to establish himself as a legitimate rotation player. Now, the first goal is simply getting healthy enough to have a season at all.

Rockets

The Rockets have done some shuffling at the end of the roster, signing undrafted center Rafael Castro to a two-way contract and waiving guard Tristen Newton.

Castro, 23, spent the past two seasons at George Washington and averaged 15.3 points, 9.1 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 1.7 blocks as a senior. He also shot 62.7 percent from the field.

He had initially been expected to sign a two-way deal with the Bucks after going undrafted, and even played for Milwaukee in summer league. That contract never materialized.

Houston needed to open a two-way spot for Castro, and Newton drew the short straw.

That’s at least mildly interesting, given Newton’s production in the G League. The former UConn guard averaged 25.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists for Rio Grande Valley, earning first-team All-G League honors and finishing second in MVP voting.

Apparently, that wasn’t enough to keep his spot. Such is life on the NBA roster fringe, where today’s developmental piece can become Friday’s free agent.

Newton will clear waivers and become available Friday if nobody claims him.