On Thursday, the Houston Rockets confirmed a handful of 2023 free agency deals reached earlier in the week with guard/forward Nate Hinton, forward Matthew Mayer, guard Joshua Obiesie, forward Jermaine Samuels Jr., and guard/forward Nate Williams.
Hinton, Mayer and Samuels played for the Rockets in the NBA’s 2023 summer league in Las Vegas and helped the team reach the championship game. Houston finished 5-1.
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Although NBA rosters are limited to 15 players on standard contracts (and up to three two-way deals) during each regular season, teams can carry up to 21 players in the offseason.
That expanded roster window continues through training camp and the preseason, which allows teams to evaluate various depth options before finalizing their regular-season roster. Teams may also consider many of these players for roles with their G League affiliate (in Houston’s case, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers).
From the team’s announcement, here are further details on the newly signed players along with highlights.
Hinton (6-foot-5, 210 pounds) was eligible for the 2020 NBA draft following his sophomore season at the University of Houston. He was a two-way player for Dallas in 2020-21 and signed a 10-day contract with Indiana during 2021-22. Last season, Hinton played for the Canton Charge of the G League and averaged 12.0 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.9 3-pointers made on 38.3% shooting.
Mayer (6-foot-9, 225 pounds) was eligible for the 2023 NBA draft and spent his first four collegiate seasons with Baylor before finishing as a graduate student with Illinois. He helped the Bears win the NCAA Championship in 2020-21. For the Fighting Illini last season, Mayer averaged 12.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 1.2 blocks and 2.0 3-pointers made.
During summer league, he averaged 2.5 made 3-pointers per game on 43.5% shooting for Houston.
Obiesie (6-foot-6, 190 pounds) was eligible for the 2019 NBA draft and has been a member of the German national team. He spent last season with the Fraport Skyliners of Germany’s Basketball Bundesliga and averaged 12.1 points, 3.2 assists, 3.2 rebounds, 0.93 steals, and 1.5 3-pointers made in 24.1 minutes per game. Obiesie competed in the 2019 Nike Hoops Summit and was with Sacramento for the 2021 California Classic Summer League.
Samuels (6-foot-7, 230 pounds), who was signed to a two-way contract, was eligible for the 2022 NBA draft following his fifth-year senior season at Villanova. In 32 games for Fort Wayne in the G League last season, he averaged 18.3 points, 9.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.0 blocks while shooting 66.6% from the floor and 45.0% from 3-point range. Samuels ranked second in the G League in field goal percentage and ninth in rebounding.
Williams (6-foot-5, 205 pounds), whose full first name is Jeenathan, was eligible for the 2022 NBA draft following his senior season at Buffalo. He began last season playing in the G League for Salt Lake City and averaged 14.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.7 3-pointers made on 42.0% shooting. Williams signed with Portland in April and appeared in the Blazers final five games while averaging 10.6 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.0 assists in 25.4 minutes while shooting 61.5% from the floor.
If anybody is looking for some Jeenathan Williams highlights from his last few games on the Blazers – Enjoy!! ????????So Happy for this guy! Happy Days! pic.twitter.com/NQrjBS2K2F
— Tom Fox (@CoachFoxUK) April 7, 2023
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