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Rockets Waive Jermaine Samuels Jr., Nate Hinton, Matt Bradley

October 19th, 2024 at 2:57pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The Rockets finalized their regular season roster by waiving Jermaine Samuels Jr., Nate Hinton and Matt Bradley, Jonathan Feigen of Houston Chronicle reports (Twitter link). According to Feigen, the team will keep its 15th roster spot open for flexibility to start the season.

Samuels went undrafted in 2022, playing his rookie season for the Pacers’ G League affiliate. The five-year Villanova standout impressed in the G League, shooting 46.4% from three in his first professional season. That led to a two-way contract from Houston, which he played on for all of last season.

Samuels only got into 14 games with the Rockets last year, but again played well in the G League, averaging 19.6 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists. However, he wasn’t kept on his two-way deal and instead re-signed to a camp deal this offseason as Houston filled its two-way slots with other players.

Like Samuels, Hinton spent all of last season on a two-way deal with the Rockets. A three-year veteran, Hinton has made stops with Dallas and Indiana after going undrafted in 2020. He played two college seasons at Houston. A skilled rebounder, Hinton got into 37 games with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in the G League where he averaged 13.7 points, 7.2 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 2.3 steals per contest as a 6’5″ guard.

He too was signed to an Exhibit 10 deal after not being retained on a two-way with the Rockets.

The Rockets signed Bradley to an Exhibit 10 deal on Friday. This was the expected move for him, with the signing designed to have him play for Rio Grande Valley this season. He averaged 14.9 points in five collegiate seasons with Cal and San Diego State.

All three players are expected to play for the Vipers this season, with all being eligible for bonuses worth up to $77.5K apiece if they spend at least 60 days with the G League team.

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And-Ones: 2025 Draft Big Board, Tanking, NBAGL Trade

October 10th, 2024 at 7:01pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Now through June 2025, writers across the globe will eagerly anticipate an exciting upcoming draft class headlined by Duke forward Cooper Flagg, alongside other top talents. Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo of ESPN recently paired to provide an early look at the top 100 prospects before the college season tips off (Insider link).

Flagg ranked first, but Rutgers guards Ace Bailey (No. 2) and Dylan Harper (No. 3) aren’t far behind. Baylor’s VJ Edgecombe (No. 4) and France’s Nolan Traore (No. 5) remain among the top options as well, while Duke’s Kon Knueppel (No. 6) is an early riser after an impressive offseason and preseason.

UNC’s Drake Powell, Duke’s Khaman Maluach, Spanish guard Hugo Gonzalez and UConn’s Liam McNeeley round out the remainder of the top 10.

Collin Murray-Boyles is the draft’s highest-ranked returner after making the decision to come back to South Carolina, with the ESPN duo ranking him at 12.

We have more from around the basketball world:

  • The top five of Sam Vecenie’s recent mock draft for The Athletic matches ESPN’s big board to a tee, with Brooklyn being slated to be the ones to land Flagg’s services in June’s draft. However, Vecenie’s mock draft deviates from there, with Illinois’ Kasparas Jakucionis coming off the board at No. 6 due to his ball and scoring skills. Vecenie mocks Georgia’s Asa Newell to the Hornets at No. 7 and Ratiopharm Ulm’s Ben Saraf at No. 8 to the Raptors, while ESPN has those players at No. 31 and No. 16, respectively.
  • With such a talented draft class on deck, The Athletic’s John Hollinger suspects teams will return to tanking in 2024/25. While some teams greatly underperformed in 2023/24, as in any year, there wasn’t as much incentive to lose since there wasn’t a consensus top pick like in next year’s draft. Hollinger likens the 2025 class to the 2018 class that produced the likes of Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Brunson and Trae Young in terms of the depth of talent. Hollinger’s story addresses this, but I’d contend that while teams may be blown away by the talent of the 2025 class, the Hawks had a better record than nine teams but still landed the No. 1 overall pick. Meanwhile, the Pistons had their worst season in franchise history but didn’t pick until No. 5.
  • The Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Houston’s G League affiliate, executed a six-team trade on Wednesday, per the team (Twitter link). Several picks swapped hands, but for simplicity’s sake, we’ll focus on the player rights that were moved. The Vipers acquired the returning player rights to Jermaine Samuels, who is currently in camp with the Rockets. The Valley Suns acquired Cassius Stanley‘s rights, the Indiana Mad Ants (Pacers) received Dakota Mathias‘s rights, the Memphis Hustle (Grizzlies) got both Malachi Smith and Devin Cannady‘s rights, the Mexico City Capitanes obtained Loudon Love, and Gary Clark‘s rights were re-routed to the Wisconsin Herd (Bucks). Mathias was already signed and waived by the Pacers, so this is an indication he’ll play for the Mad Ants this season as an affiliate player. It remains to be seen whether Stanley, Smith, Cannady or Clark will sign camp deals to be later waived and set up as affiliates. The Capitanes aren’t an NBA team’s direct affiliate, so while Love could still sign anywhere as an NBA free agent, his rights being moved aren’t directly correlated with him potentially being an affiliate player.
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Western Notes: Gordon, Rockets Roster, Divac, Doncic, Kennard

September 22nd, 2024 at 9:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Aaron Gordon becomes eligible for a four-year contract extension later this week and that will be one of the big storylines at the Nuggets’ training camp, Bennett Durando of the Denver Post writes. Gordon has a player option for the 2025/26 season but could replace that with the first year of a new deal as part of an extension agreement.

Jamal Murray‘s health and the way Russell Westbrook fits into the Nuggets’ rotation are among the other storylines to watch in Denver, according to Durando.

We have more from the Western Conference:

  • With the Rockets buying out and waiving forward AJ Griffin, they have an open spot on the official roster. How will it be filled? It could turn into a competition among players on two-ways and training camp deals, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Jeenathan Williams, Nate Hinton, N’Faly Dante, Jermaine Samuels and Jack McVeigh comprise that group. Houston could also opt to leave that spot open or sign a free agent.
  • Former Kings general manager Vlade Divac made one of the biggest draft blunders in recent years when he passed on Luka Doncic in favor of Marvin Bagley in 2018. Divac admits he made a mistake but explained that he already had a talented floor leader in De’Aaron Fox.  “I could’ve taken Luka, but then I would’ve had to trade Fox,” he said in an interview with Index, a Croatian outlet (hat tip to Grant Afseth of the Dallas Sports Journal).
  • Grizzlies players have been competing in 5-on-5 scrimmages for over a month and Luke Kennard is impressed by the team’s competitiveness and attention to detail. “Something I haven’t really seen before,” Kennard told Damichael Cole of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. “We’re really pushing each other and competing really hard. I think that’s going to go a long way. We start that right now. We’re getting a few steps ahead until the season starts.”
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Rockets Re-Sign Jeenathan Williams To Two-Way Contract

July 3rd, 2024 at 6:39pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The Rockets have re-signed guard Jeenathan Williams to a two-way contract, according to the NBA’s official transaction log. Williams spent the 2023/24 season with Houston on a two-way deal.

In addition to confirming they have re-signed Williams, the Rockets also announced they’ve officially re-signed Jermaine Samuels and Nate Hinton, who each last season on a two-way deal alongside Williams (Twitter link via The Houston Chronicle’s Jonathan Feigen).

It was previously reported that Samuels and Hinton were rejoining the team on Exhibit 10 contracts. So Williams, the only one of the three who received a two-way qualifying offer, is the only one on a two-way deal for now, but Samuels and Hinton are both candidates to be converted at some point, as Feigen previously reported.

In 22 games with Houston last season, Williams averaged 2.9 points. He spent five games at the end of the ’22/23 season with Portland, scoring 10.6 points per game with four starts. Williams played in 11 games (10 starts) with Houston’s G League affiliate — the Rio Grande Valley Vipers — last year, averaging 16.3 PPG and 5.6 RPG.

Hinton played in 15 NBA games, averaging 2.2 points last year. In 37 G League games, he averaged 13.7 PPG, 7.2 RPG and 5.1 APG.

Samuels appeared in 14 games with Houston, averaging 1.4 PPG. Like Williams and Hinton, he played more in the G League, averaging 19.6 PPG and 7.8 RPG in 38 games.

Undrafted center N’Faly Dante is expected to sign a two-way contract from the Rockets, so if he and Williams make it to the opening-night 18-man roster, that would leave just one two-way slot for Samuels, Hinton, and any other Houston camp invitees.

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Hinton, Samuels Rejoining Rockets On Exhibit 10 Deals

July 1st, 2024 at 6:16pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Nate Hinton and Jermaine Samuels Jr. have agreed to Exhibit 10 deals with the Rockets that are expected to eventually be converted to two-way deals, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.

They were on two-way deals with Houston last season, then briefly became unrestricted free agents when Houston didn’t extend a qualifying offer to either player.

Hinton appeared in 15 games with Houston last season but only averaged 5.0 minutes in those outings. He’s also played for Dallas (21 games) and Indiana (two games) after going undrafted out of the University of Houston.

Samuels played 14 games as a rookie last season but only averaged 4.3 minutes. He went undrafted out of Villanova.

Both players spent a chunk of time last season with the G League Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

An Exhibit 10 contract is a non-guaranteed minimum-salary deal that doesn’t count against a team’s cap unless the player makes the regular season roster. It can be converted to a two-way contract before the season begins or can put a player in line to earn a bonus if he’s waived and then spends at least 60 days with his team’s G League affiliate.

Hinton got a “max” Exhibit 10 deal, Kelly Iko of The Athletic tweets, meaning he could earn a bonus of $77.5K. The maximum Exhibit 10 bonus, which was $75K last season, increases at the same rate as the salary cap.

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QO Decisions: Jazz, Okeke, Pacers, Krejci, Celtics, More

June 29th, 2024 at 8:09pm CST by Luke Adams

The Jazz declined to issue qualifying offers to guard Kira Lewis or center Micah Potter ahead of Saturday’s deadline, reports Tony Jones of The Athletic (Twitter links). As a result, both players will be unrestricted free agents this summer rather than restricted.

Lewis, the 13th overall pick in the 2020 draft, didn’t establish himself as a rotation player during three-and-a-half seasons in New Orleans. He was traded from the Pelicans to the Pacers to the Raptors to the Jazz during the 2023/24 season, and played a limited role in Utah after arriving from Toronto as a salary-matching piece in the deal involving Kelly Olynyk and Ochai Agbaji. His qualifying offer would have been worth $7.74MM, so it comes as no surprise that it wasn’t tendered.

Potter also played sparingly for the Jazz last season while on a two-way contract, though he has shown some promise in the G League and is part of the U.S. Select Team that will scrimmage with Team USA ahead of the Olympics. His qualifying offer would’ve been for a partially guaranteed minimum-salary deal. According to Jones, a return to Utah is possible, though Potter may receive interest from other teams.

The only Jazz player eligible for restricted free agency who received a qualifying offer is guard Johnny Juzang, Jones reports (Twitter link). Since he has finished each of the past two seasons on a two-way contract with Utah, Juzang wasn’t eligible for another two-way qualifying offer, so his QO is for a partially guaranteed one-year minimum deal.

Here are more qualifying offer updates from around the NBA:

  • Former Magic first-round pick Chuma Okeke didn’t receive a qualifying offer that would’ve been worth about $7.4MM and will become an unrestricted free agent, per Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. Okeke, 25, has played good defense since entering the league in 2020, but hasn’t contributed much offensively, averaging 6.3 points per game on .383/.318/.789 shooting in 189 career contests (20.3 MPG).
  • The Pacers have tendered qualifying offers to Obi Toppin ($7.74MM), Oscar Tshiebwe (two-way), and Quenton Jackson (two-way), according to a pair of stories from Tony East of SI.com. All three players will now be restricted free agents.
  • The Hawks have issued a two-way qualifying offer to guard Vit Krejci, making him a restricted free agent, a league source tells Lauren L. Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link). Krejci is a candidate to negotiate a standard contract with Atlanta after finishing the 2023/24 season as a rotation player. He could also sign an offer sheet with another team, but the Hawks would have the right to match it.
  • After declining Neemias Queta‘s team option for 2023/24, the Celtics tendered him a qualifying offer, according to Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link). Two-way player Drew Peterson also got a qualifying offer from Boston, but JD Davison didn’t, Smith adds. Queta’s QO will be worth approximately $2.37MM, while Peterson’s will be for another two-way contract.
  • The following players also received two-way qualifying offers, according to Smith: Lakers big man Colin Castleton (Twitter link), Bulls forward Adama Sanogo (Twitter link), Spurs wing David Duke (Twitter link), and former Warriors guard Nico Mannion (Twitter link), whose RFA rights continue to held by Golden State as he continues his career overseas. San Antonio issued a $2.7MM qualifying offer to big man Sandro Mamukelashvili too, making him a restricted free agent, tweets Smith.
  • The Clippers opted not to extend qualifying offers to two-way players Xavier Moon and Moussa Diabate, according to Law Murray of The Athletic (Twitter links). The door isn’t closed on a new deal for either player, but it sounds like they’ll explore their options as unrestricted free agents, per Murray. The qualifying offers for Moon and Diabate would have been partially guaranteed minimum-salary offers, since they were ineligible for another two-way QO.
  • Neither Nate Hinton nor Jermaine Samuels received a two-way qualifying offer from the Rockets, tweets Kelly Iko of The Athletic. Both players will be unrestricted free agents.
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NBA G League Announces Up Next Participants

January 29th, 2024 at 1:40pm CST by Rory Maher

A pool of 28 players has been selected for the NBA G League’s Up Next Game at All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis, the NBAGL announced in a press release.

According to the release, the event features “four teams of seven players competing in two semifinal games. The winner of each semifinal will face off in a Championship game.

“The teams will be made up of 28 NBA G League players, including 10 selected by a fan vote. The remaining 18 players will be selected by the NBA G League and will include eight members of NBA G League Ignite and at least one member of the Indiana Mad Ants, the G League affiliate of the All-Star hosting Indiana Pacers. Each team will be coached by a head coach from the NBA G League.”

Players marked with an asterisk (*) are on two-way contracts.

Fan vote:

Former Kentucky guard Hagans received the most votes.

NBAGL selections:

G League Ignite:

They aren’t currently on NBA teams, but it’s worth noting that Labissiere and Bazley are ineligible for two-way deals because they each hold four years of NBA experience. Weatherspoon (three years), Hagans (one) and Williams (one) also hold at least some NBA experience.

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Rockets Notes: Whitmore, Thompson, Sengun, Udoka

December 5th, 2023 at 1:04pm CST by Luke Adams

It was a big offseason for Cam Whitmore, who was named the Summer League MVP in Las Vegas, then was voted the biggest steal of the 2023 draft by NBA general managers. However, the rookie forward hasn’t been part of the Rockets‘ rotation this fall, logging just 32 total minutes in five appearances at the NBA level.

Whitmore has seen more action in the G League for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Houston’s G League affiliate. In six games as a Viper, the 19-year-old has put up 24.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per night with a shooting line of .486/.431/.786.

While the scoring numbers are impressive, the Rockets have been even more encouraged by Whitmore’s assist totals, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required), who notes that the youngster only had 19 assists in 26 college games at Villanova. Head coach Ime Udoka said the team liked what it saw from the rookie in several other areas too.

“He did well,” Udoka said of Whitmore’s G League play. “He had numbers, obviously. But it’s not really the scoring. It’s shot selection, improvement on defense, recognition. They do the same schemes that we do.

“One thing about the G League, people go down there to score; it doesn’t always translate to the NBA. You’re not always going to get those same looks or other things. It’s how you blend in with the team and the scheme. When you’re getting a lot of time as a young guy, I think it’s invaluable to go down there to … play. We’re looking at everything, from understanding game plans, coverages and everything we don’t get a chance to work on daily.”

Here’s more on the Rockets:

  • Whitmore was one of four Rockets sent to the Vipers on Tuesday, along with fellow first-rounder Amen Thompson and two-way players Jermaine Samuels and Nate Hinton. Thompson is recovering from an ankle injury and Feigen suggests (via Twitter) that playing with the Vipers may be the next step in his return for the NBA club. Rio Grande Valley has three games in four days beginning on Wednesday.
  • Rockets center Alperen Sengun has put up All-Star caliber numbers, averaging 21.0 PPG, 9.2 RPG, and 5.5 APG through his first 17 games this season. However, he’ll face tough competition as a frontcourt player in the Western Conference, so his case would be strengthened if the Rockets – who have lost six of their last eight games – can reverse their recent slide and remain in the thick of the West’s playoff race, Feigen writes for The Houston Chronicle (subscription required).
  • The Rockets’ loss to the Lakers in Los Angeles on Saturday night wasn’t the team’s finest hour. As Kelly Iko of The Athletic details, Ime Udoka was ejected following a verbal altercation with LeBron James, while Dillon Brooks ripped the officiating after the game, referring to them as a “terrible group” of referees. Still, if the team emulates Udoka’s intensity and “don’t get punked” attitude going forward, the game could prove beneficial, according to Feigen (subscription required). “We’re trying to imitate our coach,” Jabari Smith Jr. said. “That’s who he is. That’s how he is. We’re trying to be like that.”
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Rockets Sign Jermaine Samuels To Two-Way Contract

August 2nd, 2023 at 1:30pm CST by Luke Adams

1:30pm: Samuels’ two-way contract is official, according to NBA.com’s transaction log.

8:30am: The Rockets have reached a contract agreement with free agent forward Jermaine Samuels, according to Shams Charania and Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link), who report that Samuels is signing a two-way deal with the club.

Samuels, 24, went undrafted out of Villanova in 2022 and spent his first professional season with the Pacers’ G League affiliate, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. In 32 regular season NBAGL games, he averaged an impressive 18.3 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, making 66.6% of his shots from the floor.

Samuels’ strong G League play didn’t earn him an NBA call-up as a rookie, but he was invited to play for the Rockets’ Summer League team in Las Vegas last month and performed well, averaging 11.3 PPG, 5.0 RPG, and 3.3 APG in six appearances (27.3 MPG).

Reporting at the start of the Vegas Summer League indicated that Samuels had impressed team officials in practices and had emerged as a candidate for a two-way deal for the Rockets.

Trevor Hudgins and Darius Days are currently on two-way contracts for Houston, so Samuels will fill the team’s third and final two-way slot. Since two-way deals only feature small partial guarantees and don’t count against the cap at all, the Rockets could still make changes before opening night, but for now the team will have no available two-way spots after officially signing Samuels.

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Rockets Notes: Brooks, Whitmore, Smith, Samuels

July 20th, 2023 at 10:57am CST by Arthur Hill

The Rockets were facing competition for Dillon Brooks on the free agent market, Kelly Iko of The Athletic writes in a mailbag column. Houston raised its offer beyond what was originally projected, eventually signing the defensive-minded swingman to a four-year contract that could pay him up to $90MM if he meets incentives.

The Mavericks were “seriously in the mix” for Brooks, sources tell Iko, and the Bucks were watching him closely in case they weren’t able to re-sign Khris Middleton. Brooks had a meeting with the Lakers, Iko adds, but L.A. didn’t have enough cap space to give him the kind of offer he wanted and wasn’t willing to arrange a complex sign-and-trade like Houston did.

Iko understands that many Rockets fans are surprised by the money they gave to Brooks, who landed a yearly salary close to what Bruce Brown did in free agency and now has a contract similar to Jordan Clarkson, Terry Rozier and Malcolm Brogdon. However, Iko points out that Houston had to overpay to get any significant free agent considering its dismal record over the past three years, and there’s hope that Brooks can transform his approach, especially on offense, while playing for a demanding coach like Ime Udoka.

There’s more from Houston:

  • Summer League MVP Cam Whitmore played mostly at small forward, which Iko expects to be his primary position during the upcoming season. Iko has the 20th overall pick listed behind Tari Eason as the backup small forward on his projected depth chart and says it’s hard to predict how much he’ll play as a rookie. Iko states that Whitmore has the talent to create a steady role for himself right away, but the Rockets don’t have to rush him with their revamped roster so he may be sent to the G League to get consistent minutes.
  • In a separate story, Iko talked to some of the league’s best defenders throughout the season about what Jabari Smith has to do to become elite in that area of the game. The Rockets were happy to land Smith with the third pick in the 2022 draft because of his defensive potential, combining the size of a center with the quickness to stay in front of smaller players. “Watch a lot of film,” advised Nets forward Royce O’Neale. “Try to study guys as much as you can. This league has a lot of great scorers and different guys like doing different things. Learn and watch other guys. Don’t be afraid to ask guys who are defenders how they guard certain people and little tips like that.”
  • Jermaine Samuels appears to be the most likely unsigned member of the Rockets’ Summer League team to get a training camp invitation, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Houston has two roster slots and a two-way spot open, and Feigen lists Nate Hinton, Matthew Mayer and current two-way player Trevor Hudgins as others who helped themselves in Las Vegas.
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