Houston Rockets veteran center Nene will re-sign with the franchise, The Athletic's Kelly Iko reported on Tuesday.
Breaking: Free-agent big man Nene plans to resign with the Houston Rockets.
— Kelly Iko (@KellyIko) September 3, 2019
Nene has spent the last three seasons with the Rockets primarily as the team's backup center behind perennial alley-oop target Clint Capela. However, Nene appeared in only 42 games for Houston during the 2018-19 NBA season due to a calf strain.
The 36-year-old big man declined a player option with the organization, thus making him a free agent and raising questions whether he would re-sign with the Rockets or not.
Ultimately, it looks like Nene is staying in Clutch City.
Nene has averaged 6.8 points and 3.6 rebounds in 15.5 minutes per game in his three-year tenure with Houston, appearing in 161 contest and starting in 14. Additionally, he has played in 27 playoff games for the Rockets, averaging 5.5 points in 11.9 minutes per game.
The Sao Carlos native was selected by the New York Knicks with the seventh overall pick in the 2002 Draft — distinguishing him as a trail blazer for being the first Brazilian drafted in the first round of the NBA. The Knicks, however, traded him to the Denver Nuggets on draft night in a deal that would bring Marcus Camby for his second stint in the Big Apple.
Nene spent the majority of his NBA tenure with the Nuggets, appearing in 555 contests and starting at power forward and center 451 times for the Rocky Mountain franchise. He was traded to the Washington Wizards in 2012 where he spent four-plus seasons before signing with the Rockets in the summer of 2016.
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