You've got to feel for Reed Sheppard. If a player goes with the third pick in the draft, they're almost guaranteed a starting role. But Sheppard might have been the only loser of the Houston Rockets' surprisingly rapid rise to the heights of the Western Conference.

The Houston Rockets started their summer league play this week as they were defeated by the Los Angeles Clippers 95-92.

“We’re going to surprise a lot of people and make a lot of noise.”