1:43pm: Fernando received an Exhibit 10 contract, reports Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. The deal could be converted into a two-way contract prior to the season or would entitle Fernando to a bonus worth up to $50K if he’s waived and then joins the Rockets’ G League team.
1:31pm: The Rockets have re-signed free agent big man Bruno Fernando to a new contract, the team announced today in a press release. Houston now has a full 20-man offseason roster.
Fernando, who will turn 24 next month, was the 34th overall pick in the 2019 draft. He began his career in Atlanta, was sent to the Celtics in a 2021 offseason trade, then was flipped to Houston at the 2022 deadline in February.
The former Maryland standout played some of the best basketball of his career down the stretch with the Rockets, albeit in a limited role. He averaged 6.9 PPG, 4.0 RPG, and 0.8 BPG on 70.7% shooting in 10 appearances (9.4 MPG) for Houston.
The terms of Fernando’s new deal are unclear. The Rockets already have 18 players on guaranteed standard contracts, so it seems unlikely they’d want to bring in a 19th without clearing that logjam.
Fernando is technically eligible for a two-way contract, but there’s no indication in Houston’s announcement that he got a two-way deal. That makes a non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed standard contract the likeliest outcome, but we’ll wait for confirmation on the details.
If this is a standard contract, I’m surprised Houston would give a roster spot to Bruno as the 3rd center on their team over Boban. BF stands for Boban Forever. Not Bruno Fernando. :-P
Boban will get waived and go wherever Tobias ends up.
Not crazy on Bruno myself would have loved Boban to have had a chance. But guess we shall see what goes rest of off season
Bruno should be at least a backup Center. Still young. Wake up dude ……. Life moves on quick
We don’t talk about Bruno.
That’s how you know you have a younger daughter – when Disney movie songs pop in your head at certain article titles.