EDINBURG — Before he came here, Daishen Nix was a consensus five-star recruit in high school and considered one of the best point guards in the Class of 2020 while playing at Trinity National School in Las Vegas.
He signed a national letter of intent with the UCLA Bruins, while scoring offers from big-name powers including Kansas and Kentucky, among others.
But Nix had other plans.
He had already played with some of the brightest high school players in the country on major, national stages. He played with Jalen Green (now a Rockets teammate), Scottie Barnes (Toronto Raptors), Isaiah Todd (Washington Wizards) and Jonathan Kumingo (Golden State Warriors). He was also named the National Christian School Athletic Association’s Player of the Year and was selected for the McDonald’s All-American Game, canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He decommitted from UCLA and announced he was going to join the NBA G League’s Ignite, a squad created especially to develop young stars for the NBA.
He called his mother to let her know his new plans.
“She didn’t know what I was going to do,” he said. “She was happy for me and supported me.
“I think it was the right thing for me because it was a family thing and a myself thing,” he said at the time. “Playing in the G League is basically getting me ready for the NBA draft. It’s just one step below the NBA.”
But a fork in the road followed — he didn’t get drafted. It was planning time once again.
“Well the plan first started with me getting drafted,” said Nix, who moved from Anchorage, Alaska to Las Vegas to begin his high school career. “But that really didn’t work out. The next plan was getting an NBA contract.”
Nix earned that two-way deal with the Rockets and the Vipers. Then, on Feb. 15, two days after he exited his teen years and turned 20, he signed a four-year, $6 million deal with the Rockets, according to several sources.
But the process isn’t over for Nix. A meticulous planner, the NBA career is just a step — a major one — to becoming a full-time starting point guard in the NBA.
“Me being here is about the process, about me getting better every single day,” Nix said last week. “That’s going to help me until they call me up.”
That call came at the end of last week and Nix played his first game under his new contract as a rookie with the Rockets on Friday, registering just a couple minutes, but giving him the opportunity to scratch off another bucket list item on his plan for the future menu.
“In three to four years I want to be of course with the Rockets but I want to be a starting point guard for a team that trusts the ball in my hands,” Nix said. “Hopefully I’ll be a vet and can help younger guys coming up.”
During a recent 126-118 victory over Oklahoma City, Nix, who is averaging nearly 21 points per game for the Vipers, scored just eight points and took only seven shots in a game-high 39 minutes played. However, he dished out 12 assists, had five rebounds, one steal and four blocked shots.
It was just another part of Nix’s plan.
I know if I go to the NBA and get that call up any second, I won’t be taking as many shots or scoring 30 points,” Nix said. “Being a point guard up there, and being a bigger guard, I’ll need more assists and rebounds.
RGV Vipers head coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah said that Nix’s talent, work ethic and personality will keep him on a path to a bright future.
“Off the court, he’s a great person to be around. He’s genuine and caring. On court, he’s been great to coach,” Abdelfattah said. “He has a great work ethic, great approach to every day and a very good attitude. I’m glad to have him on our team and he has a bright future ahead of him.”
Nix said he would go play basketball with his friends as a young — well younger — child. “If they’re gonna do it, I’m gonna do it,” he said.
Then, his grandfather saw something in Nix. That’s when the planning actually started.
“Grandpa started working me out,” Nix said. “He put a ball in my hand and would take me to the parks. He played a lot of sports — volleyball, basketball, baseball, rugby… That’s been my biggest motivation throughout school.”
