According to Kelly Iko, The Athletic's Houston Rockets correspondent, the Rockets will not make a two-way contract qualifying offer for Nate Hinton and Jermaine Samuels, two players who are on two-way contracts this season. This means that the two of them will become full free agents when the free market opens.
In the NBA regular season this season, Hinton played a total of 15 games for the team, averaging 5 minutes per game, averaging 2.2 points, 1.5 rebounds, 0.7 assists, 0.2 steals and 0.1 blocks per game, shooting 42.3% from the field, 50% from three-point range, and 80% from the free throw line. In this season's NBA Development League, Hinton played a total of 37 games for the Rockets' NBA Development League team, the Rio Grande Canyon Vipers, averaging 31 minutes per game, averaging 13.7 points, 7.2 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 2.3 steals and 0.5 blocks per game, shooting 43.1% from the field, 31.5% from three-point range, and 71.3% from the free throw line.
In the NBA regular season this season, Samuels played a total of 14 games for the team, averaging 4.3 minutes per game, averaging 1.4 points, 0.9 rebounds, 0.2 assists, 0.1 steals and 0.1 blocks per game, shooting 64.3% from the field and 100% from the free throw line. In this season's NBA Development League, Samuels played a total of 38 games for the Rio Grande Canyon Vipers, a team affiliated with the Rockets, averaging 34.5 minutes per game, averaging 19.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.6 blocks per game, shooting 51.5% from the field, 32.9% from three-point range, and 65.5% from the free throw line.
In fact, neither player has had much opportunity to perform in the NBA this season, and their performances in the NBA Development League are also relatively bright. Relatively speaking, from a player development point of view, Hinton is a backfield player with excellent defensive ability and ball handling and playmaking skills, and his development prospects are still good; As a No. 4 player with a height of only 198cm, Samuels' performance in the NBA Development League is not bad, but his shortcomings in physical condition are a little too obvious, and it may be difficult for him to gain a foothold in the NBA.
Of the three players on two-way contract with the Rockets this season, the Rockets have made a qualifying offer for Nate Williams, and it looks like they want to keep him, and the Rockets signed N'Faly Dante on a two-way contract after the draft, leaving the Rockets with only one two-way contract spot left. Hinton and Samuels should both play for the Rockets in Summer League, and their performances may directly determine whether they can stay with the Rockets next season.