Houston Rockets Sign 7-foot Former Lottery Pick After 3 Year Absence

With a 7'3" wingspan and a 9'2" standing reach, there were high (tall) hopes for the South Sudanese center when he was selected with the No. 10 overall selection in the 2016 NBA Draft. Thon Maker made the jump to the NBA without playing in U.S. college or professionally overseas.

But it's never really panned out for the South Sudanese center in the NBA, and in fact, he hasn't played a game in the best league in the world since 2021. Since then, he's played in the G League, Israel, Lebanon and China.

Now at the age of 27, Maker will get another shot at the NBA, as the Houston Rockets have signed him to an Exhibit 10 contract for training camp.

The Houston Rockets are signing free agents Thon Maker and Markquis Nowell to Exhibit 10 deals, sources tell myself and @ShamsCharania.
— Kelly Iko (@KellyIko) October 1, 2024

And here's the long and short of it: the Rockets have also signed 5'7" point guard Markquis Nowell to an Exhibit 10 deal. The diminutive guard was with the Toronto Raptors on a two-way deal last season, but only got into one game in the NBA, while averaging 14.4 points and 8.7 assists in the G League.

Maker, in his 263 career games in the NBA, has averaged 4.6 points and 2.8 boards.