Jeenathan Lewis "Nate" Williams Jr. (born February 12, 1999) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA). He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

Buffalo Bulls The Buffalo Bulls are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University at Buffalo (UB) in Buffalo, New York. The Bulls compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level as a member of Mid-Ame ...

High school career

Williams played basketball for University Prep Charter School for Young Men in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

. As a junior, he averaged 22 points, seven rebounds and five assists per game and was named to the Class AA all-state fifth team. For his senior season, Williams transferred to Prolific Prep in

Napa, California Napa is the largest city and county seat of Napa County, California, Napa County and a principal city of Wine Country in Northern California, United States. Located in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the Bay Area, th ...

, where he averaged 15.8 points per game. He competed for the City Rocks on the

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

circuit alongside Isaiah Stewart and

Buddy Boeheim Jackson Thomas "Buddy" Boeheim (born November 11, 1999) is an American professional basketball player for the Oklahoma City Blue of the NBA G League. The son of Hall of Fame basketball coach Jim Boeheim, he played college basketball for the Syrac ...

. A four-star recruit, Williams committed to playing college basketball for Buffalo over offers from

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

and St. Bonaventure. He became the highest-rated recruit in program history per Rivals.com.

College career

As a freshman at Buffalo, Williams averaged 3.2 points and 1.7 rebounds per game. He played only 9.1 minutes per game on a team that finished 32–4 and was ranked all season. In his sophomore season, he moved into the starting lineup, and averaged 11.6 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. Following the season, he worked on his ballhandling and shooting with coaches in Florida and California. On November 27, 2020, Williams posted a junior season-high 28 points and 12 rebounds in a 74–65 win against

Towson Towson () is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 59,533 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is t ...

. As a junior, he averaged 17.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game, earning Second Team All-

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...

(MAC) honors. Williams declared for the

2021 NBA draft The 2021 NBA draft, the 75th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual NBA draft, draft, was held on July 29, 2021, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. The NBA draft returned to Brooklyn after 2020 NBA draft, the pre ...

before withdrawing and returning to Buffalo. In his senior season debut on November 10, 2021, he scored a career-high 32 points and grabbed eight rebounds in an 88–76 loss to sixth-ranked

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. Williams was named to the First Team All-MAC.

Professional career

Salt Lake City Stars (2022–2023)

After going undrafted in the

2022 NBA draft The 2022 NBA draft (branded as the 2022 NBA Draft presented by State Farm for sponsorship reasons), the 76th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual NBA draft, draft, was held on June 23, 2022, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New ...

, Williams joined the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

for the

2022 NBA Summer League The 2022 NBA Summer League, also branded as the NBA 2K23 Summer League 2022, was an off-season competition held by the National Basketball Association (NBA) primarily at the Thomas and Mack Center and Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada on the cam ...

. On October 11, 2022, Williams signed an exhibit 10 contract with the Jazz, but was waived the next day. On October 19, Williams signed with the

Salt Lake City Stars The Salt Lake City Stars are an American minor-league professional basketball team. They are a member of the NBA G League, based in the Salt Lake City suburb of West Valley City, Utah, and are affiliated with the Utah Jazz. Before the 2016–17 ...

of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

Portland Trail Blazers (2023)

On April 1, 2023, Williams signed with the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (N ...

. He made his NBA debut the next day, scoring 7 points in a 107–105 win over the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...

. He became the first Buffalo alumnus to play in the NBA since Sam Pellom forty years earlier. On July 28, 2023, Williams was waived by the Trail Blazers.

Houston Rockets (2023–present)

On August 2, 2023, Williams signed with the

and on October 23, his deal was converted into a

two-way contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless o ...

. He appeared in the season opener on October 25, scoring four points in less than five minutes of play. On July 3, 2024, he signed another two-way contract with the Rockets. On March 2, 2025, the Rockets signed Williams to a four-year, $8.2 million standard contract.

Career statistics

NBA

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

, 5 , , 4 , , 25.3 , , .615 , , .375 , , .667 , , 3.0 , , 2.0 , , .6 , , .4 , , 10.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, 22 , , 0 , , 5.9 , , .540 , , .400 , , .538 , , 1.0 , , .3 , , .2 , , .0 , , 2.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 20 , , 0 , , 7.4 , , .435 , , .231 , , .625 , , .7 , , .5 , , .4 , , .2 , , 3.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 37 , , 4 , , 8.5 , , .514 , , .270 , , .583 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , .3 , , .2 , , 3.8

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;", Buffalo , 36 , , 0 , , 9.1 , , .358 , , .106 , , .611 , , 1.7 , , .2 , , .2 , , .2 , , 3.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;", Buffalo , 32 , , 31 , , 25.7 , , .455 , , .318 , , .708 , , 4.7 , , 1.2 , , .8 , , .7 , , 11.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2020–21 , style="text-align:left;", Buffalo , 25 , , 24 , , 30.8 , , .486 , , .386 , , .708 , , 6.8 , , 2.4 , , 1.1 , , .4 , , 17.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;", Buffalo , 29 , , 29 , , 32.6 , , .490 , , .451 , , .690 , , 5.0 , , 2.9 , , 1.4 , , .8 , , 19.1 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 122 , , 84 , , 23.5 , , .467 , , .355 , , .688 , , 4.3 , , 1.6 , , .8 , , .5 , , 12.1

References

External links

*
Buffalo Bulls bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Nate 1999 births Living people 21st-century American sportsmen American men's basketball players Basketball players from Rochester, New York Buffalo Bulls men's basketball players Houston Rockets players Portland Trail Blazers players Rio Grande Valley Vipers players Salt Lake City Stars players Shooting guards Small forwards Undrafted NBA players