Las Vegan finds rhythm as Rockets’ point guard in Summer League

Daishen Nix shouldn’t have to hear his name mispronounced, especially in Las Vegas, his adoptive hometown, where he played high school basketball and his family still resides.

But the NBA Summer League public address announcer Saturday inside the Thomas & Mack Center still deviated from DAY-shin.

Not that Nix, a guard for the Houston Rockets, was surprised.

“Somebody’s always going to mess it up. I just let it happen,” he said after a 100-98 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

“Hopefully by next year or by this coming up season, they’ll know my name.”

Nix is back in Las Vegas for the Summer League, running the point for the rebuilding Rockets as he prepares to play more in 2022-23. The sturdy 6-foot-5-inch, 20-year-old struggled Thursday in his debut, playing 19 minutes and recording one field goal — a two-handed tip dunk.

But he played Saturday the way he played as a McDonald’s All-American at Trinity International: with pace and poise en route to 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting and a team-high six assists.

“That’s what I really like doing, getting everybody involved,” Nix said. “Helping everybody get touches and get open shots.”

Nix’s giving nature helped him become a five-star prospect — and the first prep point guard to pick G League Ignite. He played 15 games for its inaugural 2020-21 team, though shooting struggles and conditioning issues prevented him from being picked in the 2021 NBA draft.

So he signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Rockets, earning an invitation to training camp last fall and turning that into a two-way deal that necessitated time with their G League affiliate. He averaged 20.6 points and 7.7 assists in 18 regular-season games to garner a four-year contract with Houston.

The G League, he said, helped him become more assertive and develop his jumper. He shot 40 percent from 3-point range last season in the G League on a hearty 4.2 attempts per game.

At Summer League, Nix is tasked with facilitating opportunities for No. 3 overall pick Jabari Smith Jr. and fellow first-rounders Tari Eason and TyTy Washington. Josh Christopher, a first-round pick in 2021, also flanks Nix, who said he’s growing more comfortable as he adjusts to his teammates.

“Daishen is a lot of things, and when he believes he’s a very good basketball player, he can show it,” Rockets Summer League coach Rick Higgins said. “He plays with a belief that he can get to the spots that make him successful, he can make plays for his teammates. And then that belief … bleeds into the rest of the team.”

Nix played 20 games for the Rockets last season, averaging 10.9 minutes while showing flashes of his ability. Houston’s contractual commitment suggests he could vie for more playing time next season, perhaps as the backup point guard to Kevin Porter Jr.

Nix’s preferred style of play — probing the paint to find shooters and cutters — complements the scoring capabilities of Smith, Porter and second-year guard Jalen Green, who averaged 17.3 points last season as the No. 2 overall pick in 2021.

“He just has to play his game,” Higgins said of Nix. “Scoring is what it is. If he’s shooting open shots, good shots, just like we keep telling the group, he’s going to be fine. He’s a team-first player. He plays to get people involved and share the ball.”

Contact Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.