Rockets Converting Nate Williams Deal, Waiving Cody Zeller

The Rockets are converting Jeenathan Williams‘ two-way contract into a standard four-year, $8.2 million deal, per ESPN’s Shams Charania.

Known as Nate Williams, the swingman is in his third season in the NBA. He has appeared in 35 career NBA games, including five games with the Portland Trail Blazers.

Williams, who went undrafted out of Buffalo, re-signed with the Rockets on a two-way contract in July.

This season, Williams has played in eight games, averaging 3.6 points in 5.5 minutes per game. In 17 appearances with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in the NBA G League, he has averaged 20.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.8 steals in 30.7 minutes per game.

It remains unclear how much of Williams’ new deal is guaranteed.

In order to make room on the 15-man roster, the Rockets are waiving Cody Zeller, whose contract was non-guaranteed for the upcoming season, Charania added in a follow-up tweet.

Zeller, 32, has not played this season. He was part of a salary-dump trade just before the February 6 deadline, with the Atlanta Hawks sending him and a 2028 second-round pick to Houston to move below the luxury tax threshold.

Zeller had not been with the team since the trade, as he and the front office had mutually agreed on his absence.

Zeller was originally signed to a multiyear deal by the New Orleans Pelicans last offseason, primarily to be used in salary-matching for the Dejounte Murray trade. Although he was technically a member of the Hawks for several months, he did not participate in training camp and had agreed to stay away from the team.