To follow up on this, Jalens contract is in the same neighborhood as Immanuel Quickley, Jordan Poole, Desmond Bane...and it is significantly less than Franz, Mobley, Cade, and Scottie Barnes.
You are right I forgot this is an early extension while a deal signed in the next offseason is a real extension.
The world that he gets that extension is a world I want to live in. If he gets that max in a couple years, many things will be going right. As Rockets fans, we should all hope for that scenario.
The idea of "value" is fascinating isnt it? This still shows a weary team. Its a player banking on himself and if it goes perfectly for the player could put a subsequent contract out of reach and have the player leave on his own volition without any sort of recompense -- instead of enjoying "value" on a longer term contract. It really is a groundbreaking type of deal in the new CBA. Only way it backfires for Jalen is if he gets a bad injury.
I'm really proud of the FO. They managed to build a deal that is good both for the team and for the player, short and long term. Let's be honest: we're not winning a title in the next 2 years. If Jalen doesn't become a star, we have him as a salary filler in a trade in 2 years time. Yeah, a team option would be exceptional in the sense that it'd make him a potential expiring, but being as young as he will be it's safe to bet that his contract will retain some value even if he keeps playing inconsistent basketball. OTOH, if he becomes a star, we'll have Sengun as the only max player for the next couple of years -- he's not going anywhere: although he's still not a 1a options for a contender the Rox are keeping him in RFA for max money, so SOFs should realize they'll be stuck rooting for the rockets for the next decade. We'll be able to add a real 1a by 2026 if Sengun doen't reach that level (maybe Jalen, but I don't see it happening as of now). Bari and Tari won't command max money and we can only hope Amem does. Reed may as well, but by that time we'll be parading as the '28 champs aiming for a repeat. Yeah, good times ahead is all I see.
That's what I'm saying though, the Jaters should be happy. He's making Immanuel Quickley money. What exactly did they expect? Send him to China? This is a win for the Jaters, it has shown that the rockets don't think Jalen is a max player, and that Jalen also doesn't believe he's a max player. I would think they would be in here gloating and celebrating. But instead, they all seem to be mad. It's puzzling. And then all the Turkish Jaters are going nuts on twitter because Jalen "got paid" and Sengun didn't. A buncha bozos if you ask me.
