I don't mind the deal. We need him for a leader and mentor next year while developing a possible replacement. If he chooses to exercise his player option be traded after that so be it. I don't see us signing him again for more years or higher pay at that point. I'm hoping we reduce his minutes to 30 or less, and hopefully no more than 28 by mid-season. I'd love to see us start giving Reed more of his minutes, and Cam, Reed, and Amen Jalen's minutes.
Not sure on this read. Keep in mind nobody who might want Fred had the cap space to sign him this offseason. He was looking at getting an NT-MLE deal worth $60M over 4 years. This contract gives him the ability to earn nearly that amount over two years then walk and get one more contract of some kind, or decline his player option and potentially sign a slightly larger MLE deal next offseason. It makes sense from his perspective without any kind of wink-wink deal with the Rockets.
