With a vacant roster spot following their trade deadline moves, the Houston Rockets are using it to sign rookie guard Daishen Nix to a four-year contract, as first reported by Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston.
Financial terms were not initially reported, but given Nix’s lack of NBA experience after going unselected in the 2021 draft, it’s likely to be at or close to the league minimum in annual salary — similar to the contract awarded to Garrison Mathews in December.
Nix had been on a two-way contract with Houston’s G League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) Vipers. That contract allowed Nix to shuttle back and forth between the teams, but it only ran for one season. That could have made Nix highly pursued by other teams as a restricted free agent this summer, given how well he has played of late. Instead, the Rockets now have him under club control for the foreseeable future.
By converting Nix to a standard contract, the Rockets will now be able to award his two-way contract to a different G League player.
NBA source: Rockets agreed to a four-year contract with point guard Daishen Nix (6-4/230). Widely considered the best prospect in the G League with remarkable numbers at RGV for a player who just turned 20 yesterday.
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) February 15, 2022
Regarding Nix, Rockets head coach Stephen Silas said recently:
Rafael (Stone) is like ‘You need to watch this kid play.’
He is physical. He is a point guard, for sure. He makes those around him better. He can get downhill. He’s shooting the ball a lot better than we had expected or thought that he could.
Nix, who recently won G League Player of the Week, is currently averaging 24.5 points (50.5% FG, 41.2% on 3-pointers), 7.3 assists, 6.4 rebounds, and 2.6 steals in 34.9 minutes per game with the Vipers.
The 6-foot-4 floor general already has familiarity with fellow rookie Jalen Green, since the two played together last season with the G League Ignite. General manager Rafael Stone indicated Friday that Nix is likely to be back with the Rockets before the 2021-22 season ends.
