John Hollinger of the Athletic posted a free agency article. It uses his algorithm BORD$ to calculate a projected salary value. Purely numbers based. Rockets relevant here, salary next to them is that projection https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6429145/2025/06/17/nba-free-agency-2025-james-harden-kyrie-irving/ Tier I: Max and near-max guys 3. Fred VanVleet, PG, Rockets, $36,986,737 (TO) VanVleet’s $44.9 million option presents some very interesting options for the Rockets. One presumes Houston wants him back, and based on this BORD$ number, a fair three-year deal for VanVleet would land in the neighborhood of $105 million to $110 million. The Rockets have some leverage here given the lack of alternate landing spots for VanVleet in free agency, so let’s say they can shave it to $100 million or so. But there are many paths to get there. One of them is to have VanVleet opt in to the $44 million but agree to a multi-year extension at a lower number; he would not be able to sign the extension until July, but the team and player could agree on terms before picking up the option. Tacking on two (or even three) years in the $28 million range could help the Rockets navigate a stretch where they are likely to become much more expensive; notably for the Giannis Antetokounmpo watchers out there, VanVleet’s contract would be immediately tradable in this example. However, Houston may prefer to lower its immediate burden to navigate the tax aprons for the coming season. Based on VanVleet’s present salary, Houston would go over the first apron if it uses its full nontaxpayer MLE this season; more importantly, perhaps, landing in the tax would start the clock on the repeater penalty as the young, talented Rockets look down the road at a far more expensive future. Because of that, “decline and re-sign” is also likely on the table, where VanVleet re-ups and cuts his salary to about $31 million for the coming season, giving the Rockets more than enough room to spend up to the tax line. Or perhaps they choose a middle ground of this strategy, where VanVleet’s new contract is frontloaded with 8 percent declines and starts at $36 million before landing at $31 million in 2027-28, and Houston accepts a bit less flexibility with the back end of the roster this season as a consequence. Tier IV: Room or tax exception 16. Aaron Holiday, Rockets, $5,319,717 (TO) This is a low-key spicy decision for the Rockets because Holiday’s team option is for $4.9 million, and BORD$ says he’s worth slightly more. The result likely depends partly on other developments higher up the roster food chain, and one can make a case in either direction. For instance, even if Houston didn’t wish to keep him, one consideration for the Rockets is that they might be able to trade Holiday for surplus value if they pick up the option, especially since the midlevel exception can be used in trades under the most recent collective bargaining agreement. On the other hand, Houston could also look at declining the option even if the Rockets wanted to keep him. How’s that again? The logic is that the Rockets could re-sign Holiday to a new deal at a maximally allowed 20 percent raise ($5.6 million) in return for a similar team option a year from now, and wouldn’t have to use any exception money to do it.
Need @Plowman to tell spurs to f off. Their interim head coach when Pops was away looked like 12 yrs old.
In a self-funded, $10.5-million project, the Houston Rockets are replacing the 17,000 bowl seats inside their home arena of Toyota Center. The new seats will “feature a black sports-weave material,” which will represent a noticeable change relative to the venue’s current color scheme of red. The Rockets are slated to begin the project in October 2025 and plan to complete it by the end of July 2026. No scheduling shutdowns are anticipated during the 2025-26 NBA season, and the change will not cause the venue to lose any seating capacity. In addition to seat replacements, the Rockets and owner Tilman Fertitta are also replacing the retractable platforms on Toyota Center’s north and south ends, according to the report.
