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The pathway to earning consistent minutes in the NBA can be tough; it can be magnified even more when on a two-way contract. While two-way contracts essentially added extra NBA roster spots, there's a lot of uncertainty that comes with it. Houston Rockets guard Nate Hinton is no stranger to that plight.
Nate Hinton is now in his third season in the NBA and his first with the Rockets. His rookie year during the 2020-21 season was with the Dallas Mavericks and he spent parts of the 2021-22 season with the Indiana Pacers. Each year though he's been on a two-way contract.
On two-way contracts, players are allowed a maximum of 50 games with their NBA team. The rest of the their time is split with their G League affiliate. It's not uncommon for players to play in a G League game early in the morning and then rejoin their NBA team later that evening. It's an experience that Hinton has gotten used to over the past couple of seasons.
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“It's just putting in the reps, just being in the G League and things like that,” Hinton told ClutchPoints. “It's just staying ready. The staff does a great job putting us in position to stay ready. They have us playing in the early morning, playing after and things like that. We're staying active and doing a little bit more extra conditioning. Whenever your name is called, pay attention and make sure that you try to stay ready.”
Hinton's rookie season with the Mavs was the most NBA experience he's gotten so far. He suited up in 21 games that season playing a little over four minutes per game. He went undrafted in the 2020 NBA Draft and the Mavs immediately scooped him up on a two-way contract. Although he re-signed with the Mavs during the 2021 offseason, he was cut as it got closer to the start of training camp.
He began the 2021-22 season in the G League with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants where he showed enough to earn a 1o-day contract call-up by the Pacers. They did not retain him beyond his initial 10-day contract, but they ended up signing him to a two-way contract close to the end of the regular season.
He only appeared in two games for the Pacers that year, but it was worth it in that it served as a crash course in adjusting to the NBA.
“I learned that it's a process, a long process,” Hinton said. “It's a process, it's up and down, you can't get too emotional about what goes right or what goes wrong. Some days will be good, some days will be bad, you just got to live with the results. As long as you put everything to the process, everything will be alright.”
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Over the past couple of seasons, Nate Hinton has gotten the opportunity to develop and get live game reps in the G League. His first year with the Mavs was during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and not every G League team opted to participate in the season. Hinton split assignments between the Long Island Nets and Santa Cruz Warriors.
The following year, he got plenty of reps in with the Mad Ants. He spent the entirety of the 2022-23 season playing for the Cleveland Charge, the affiliate of the Cleveland Cavaliers. This year, Nate Hinton has suited up in nine games for the Rockets affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.
Overall, Hinton has appeared in 81 G League games, almost the equivalent of a full NBA season. This year he's been averaging 12.1 points per game, 8.8 rebounds and 6.8 assists while getting the opportunity to run the offense as a lead guard. The perception of the G League has changed over the years and Hinton sees it as being very beneficial for a player's development.
“It's definitely a very important piece to development. You make a mistake here in the NBA and it's like you might be a few months out of the rotation,” Hinton said. “Down there it's like you get the chance to kind of work on your game and get reps up. It's also a faster pace down there, it's a learning curve. I think it just allows you to learn and apply. Then you come back up here and it's all just a learning process.”
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So far this season, Nate Hinton has appeared in four games for the Rockets at exactly four minutes per game. He's averaged 2.3 points per game and shot 50 percent from the field and 100 percent from the three-point line. His best game this year has been against the Sacramento Kings back on Nov. 6 when he scored six points off the bench in six minutes of play. He shot 2-4 from the field and 2-2 from three-point range.
That was followed by a string of DNPs as he was sent down to the G League. He most recently saw playing time back on Dec. 2 against the Los Angeles Lakers. Playing time is going to be tough to come by this season, but Hinton is confident in what he can bring to the team should his number be called.
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“I can bring energy and my defense,” Hinton said. “My offense is getting better, they're allowing me to go down to the G League to get better on that end. But I think it's just my overall energy, being a great teammate and just giving great effort.”
This will be the final season that Hinton will be eligible to sign a two-way contract. Two-way contracts are reserved for players with three or fewer seasons of experience and he is now at three seasons. As the future is never promised in the NBA, Hinton wants to spend this season with the Rockets taking full advantage of whatever opportunities come his way.
“I just want everything that is for me, everything that's going to be for me,” Hinton said. “I just want to take advantage of every opportunity, every moment and just embrace being out here and being with this organization.”
