Nate

Hinton

Hinton and the Rockets fell one win shy of an NBA2K24 Summer League title, but he capped his time in Las Vegas with another quality performance. Hinton consistently brought the energy on both ends of the floor in the Rockets’ six games, a must for a player looking to earn either a contract or a training camp invitation. Given his lack of a contract, Hinton can’t be relied on in fantasy leagues. But he should be able to parlay his time in Las Vegas into an opportunity to compete for a roster spot in the fall.

Hinton is the most experienced player on Houston’s Summer League roster, and he’s been an important leader for this group. That along with the production should only help him in his quest to earn a training camp invite, be it from the Rockets or another NBA team. In a similar position is Fletcher Magee, who came off the bench in Sunday’s win and tallied 21 points, five rebounds, one assist, and three 3-pointers in 17 minutes. Neither Magee nor Hinton will be on the fantasy radar, but give both credit for making the most of their respective opportunities.

Diakite was on a camp invite after being released by the Thunder last season.

With Malcolm Brogdon, Jeremy Lamb and Chris Duarte in the protocols, there is a non-zero percent chance that Hinton gets a decent look with the Pacers in the short term. He’s only worth monitoring in very deep leagues, to be clear. In 14 G League appearances, Hinton averaged 8.7 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.3 dimes and 2.1 steals.

All these guys joined camp on Exhibit 10 deals, so they’ll likely be joining Indiana’s G League affiliate, the Mad Ants.

Hinton is certainly familiar with new Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle, as he was with the Mavericks on a two-way contract last season. He appeared in 21 games for Dallas, averaging 2.0 points, 0.4 rebounds, 0.4 assists, 0.3 steals and 0.2 3-pointers in 4.4 minutes per game. Hinton faces long odds to make the Pacers’ Opening Night roster, so there’s no need to consider drafting him in any fantasy leagues.