Former Indiana men’s basketball center/power forward Cody Zeller was recently traded from the Atlanta Hawks to the Houston Rockets, according to ESPN Senior NBA Insider Shams Charania. The Atlanta Hawks also sent a 2028 second-round pick to the Houston Rockets in the under the radar deal.
Houston will acquire Zeller’s $3.5MM contract without having to send a player back in return by using a portion of its non-taxpayer mid-level exception ESPN’s Bobby Marks reported on X formerly Twitter
In the 2023-24 season with the Pelicans, Zeller averaged 1.8 points and 2.6 rebounds in 7.4 minutes, playing in 43 games total. He was then involved in a sign-and-trade deal to the Atlanta Hawks but did not record any minutes with the Hawks this season (2024-25).
Zeller spent his first eight NBA seasons in Charlotte before becoming a well traveled journeyman over the past few years, spending time with Portland, Miami, New Orleans, Atlanta and now Houston.
The 32 year-old Zeller, spent two seasons at Indiana from 2011-13 under former head coach Tom Crean. He averaged 16.1 points , 7.3 rebounds per game and 59.3% from the field in those two years. He was first-team All-Big Ten for the 2013 season and Big Ten freshman of the year in 2012 prior to being drafted fourth overall by the Charlotte Hornets.
The Houston Rockets currently sit at 32-20 heading into the NBA All-Star break, which makes them No. 5 in the Western Conference standings.
Zeller is hoping he can find his way into their rotation this season as he nears the end of his career. He will try and help this young and hungry up n' coming Houston team to be a serious threat in the 2-24-25 NBA playoffs.
The Hawks are trading Cody Zeller and Houston's 2028 second-round pick to the Rockets, per @ShamsCharania pic.twitter.com/7DkzNOo9qY
— NBA TV (@NBATV) February 6, 2025