The Rockets have officially waived camp invitee Nate Hinton, according to NBA.com’s transaction log.
Hinton, a 6’5″ wing who played his college ball at Houston, signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Rockets in August. He has spent most of his three professional seasons on two-way contracts or G League deals, appearing in 23 NBA games for the Mavericks and Pacers since 2020.
The 24-year-old played for the Cleveland Charge – the Cavaliers’ NBAGL affiliate – during the 2022/23 season, averaging 12.0 PPG and 6.3 RPG on .466/.383/.789 shooting in 27 regular season games (33.9 MPG). He appeared in three preseason games for the Rockets, playing limited minutes.
The Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Houston’s G League team, acquired Hinton’s returning rights from the Charge earlier this week, signaling that the plan is to have him report to the Vipers once he clears waivers. His contract makes him eligible to earn a $75K bonus if he spends at least 60 days with the NBAGL club.
The Rockets still have 20 players under contract, so a couple more moves will be necessary to get the roster ready for the regular season. Interestingly, no transaction involving Jeenathan Williams – another camp invitee – shows up on NBA.com today. That could be a signal that Houston plans to convert him to a two-way deal — the team would have to cut one of its current two-way players to make that move.
In addition to Williams and their three two-way players, the Rockets are carrying 16 players who are on fully or partially guaranteed contracts. Because they’ll have to trade or release a player who is owed guaranteed money in order to set their standard 15-man roster, there’s no rush to finalize that move until Sunday or Monday, as we explained in a separate article.