Scott Machado will get his chance to prove he belongs in the NBA.
The Iona College point guard, bypassed in last week’s draft despite leading the nation in assists, has opted to join the Houston Rockets in the upcoming NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, his agent Aylton Tesch, confirmed.
“I think right now it is the best team for Scott to be a part of,” Tesch said. “If you look at their roster, right now they have two point guards, and one hopefully is not going to be back.”
The 6-foot-2 Queens product, who starred at St. Mary’s of Manhasset and New Jersey powerhouse St. Benedict’s Prep in high school, was a projected second-round pick. Tesch said a few teams were interested in drafting Machado late in the second round, but wanted him to play overseas for a year or two.
“We wanted to keep him here,” Tesch said.
Machado led the country in assists per game with 9.9 and guided Iona to the MAAC regular season title and to the NCAA tournament this past season. He also drew interest from the Bobcats, Raptors, Cavaliers and Hawks.
“It’s another stepping stone I have to get over,” he previously said of not getting drafted. “It’s going to motivate me a lot.”