Harden had a 4 year contract at OKC, and signed a true extension of 5 years in Houston. At the end of his current contract, he is an UFA with 9 years of service in the NBA, to reach the new max level of a 10 years vet, he will be more than likely do a 1+1 contract assuming of course he can still command such contract 2 years from now. Instead, the Rockets basically willing to pay him under the new cap amount for the next 3 years, in return, they will get a guaranteed extra service of Harden. Technically, this isn't really such a bad deal for either side because there isn't any free lunch in the world and as I said, if Harden still will be an impact player 3years from now, he will 100% opt out of his final year to get the 10 years vet level - unless there will be changes under the new CBA. So forget about chase no any new big star FA in the coming years unless there will be big trades, you are looking at this combination now probably for the next 3 years unless of course, another crash and burn season can lead to major trades.
Ok so hold on let me get the details right. Harden signed a 4 year extension, which just raises his salary for the next two seasons, adds one more guranteed year, and one more player option year. So in all likelyness, he will opt out of that last year and sign a ultra max. Harden did this because that extra year will be his 10th season, making him eligible for biggest possible max contract. Makes sensw for both sides, wish we could have actually locked him up longer then one extra year but this will give Morey one more summer to add stars, one more year of Harden.
That's what it looks like to me... ballparking it... we gave away 25M in cap space over the next 2 years to tie him into a 3rd year at 30M....... so basically a 3rd yr at 55M spread out over 3 seasons...with the possibility of being on the hook for a 4th year if things go south.... I guess especially in todays NBA... you do what you gotta do to retain talent....
Considering superstars like Harden are massively underpaid even at the max, it's still probably a good deal for us. If there was no maximum salary he'd probably get like $40M a year on the open market.
Everyone realizes this is pretty much the roster barring trades and we will not be a player in the biggest off-season ever..yes next year is bigger than this one with more great players to be had..
awful news in term of trying to build a good team for Rockets. unnecessary to use cap space. I guess harden is the last straw Morey is trying to hold onto...
Great stuff, the only thing needed to be done now is change the god damn awful jerseys and the court design and the logo
I'm tired of talking about "flexibility". We've been stressing flexibility for years. For the past few years I've been unhappy with the way they handle their players. Whether it be forcing a player into restricted free agency and waiting for another team to offer, or just treating people like assets in general. For once they decided to recognize a player that they feel is really important (heck, we all do) and instead of waiting until his contract was up, they showed Harden a ton of faith and signed him to a huge contract. They could have had him for $15 million a year over the next two years for more of that "flexibility", but they wanted him to know that they strongly believe in him. I respect that. And I feel it goes a long way.
Totally untrue But think what you want to think. Rockets can easily create a max slot while retaining harden/Gordon/Anderson/capela
Boy you're some big debbie downer . James Harden has embraced Houston and the organization like no other. Durant just ran off with a tail between his legs. Go Rockets !
