Is Tari playing his way out of Houston, financially?

If Tari Eason is necessary for your team to win games then your team has a WCSF ceiling. He's impactful but makes as many bone headed plays as he does great ones. He isn't Steven Adams, Amen Thompson, Jrue Holiday or Draymond Green. He's more in the Patrick Beverly, Marcus Smart and Davion Mitchell mold. I'm not losing sleep over losing Tari Eason.

 

Depth is important. Whether it is Tari, Caruso, Smart, needing wins from non-stars is essential and doesn't cap a team's ceiling. Not having depth is more of cap lately even though stars are more important.

 

Tari Eason, if healthy, is a very valuable player. Any contract at or below Jabari's should be welcomed by the Rockets as very good value. I wouldn't be surprised if he signed a shorter deal - get some security - but also set himself up for an earlier bump if he stays healthy. 3 Years 54 Million is my prediction.

 

Caruso is not like those others. There are a select few defensive players you want on your team like Caruso, White, Daniels, and Camara. Further back was Tayshaun Prince, Luc Mbah a Moute, Ariza, and Pippen. Then there are others that cause as much problems as they create for other teams because they're just kinda dumb chaos irritants. Tari, Dillon, Smart, Beverley, Alvarado, Lance Stephenson.....the pinnacle of this type of player was Ron Artest. He was dumb but was an absolute unit. I see Tari as more of a defensive Jalen Green than anything resembling a Dyson Daniels or Derrick White.

The Thunder were incredible last year because they had so many of those guys. Dort, Chet, Caruso, Wallace and Harty were all smart and defensively saavy. Who do we have like that? Amen and Fred.....Jabari isn't there yet. Sengun won't be. KD is good. We aren't as deep as the Thunder defensively.

 

DFS?

 

I think with the injury history, Tari will get slightly less than Jabari ($15-$20m) and less guaranteed years (maybe 5 years with year 4 partially guaranteed and year 5 non-guaranteed). Maybe even give him a player option Year 3 for him to opt-out if he playing really well.

 

to me it comes down to the medical. If the medical is clear u give Tari 5 yrs fully guaranteed at around $18 per. 5/$90

 

No player is exactly like another. I think it is pretty evident that Tari provides much more positive defensive value than negative defensive value when healthy.

OKC didn't have Jalen Green. He's the reason the Rockets defense wasn't closer to OKC's last year. I expect Reed will get targeted some so I don't expect the defense to close the gap too much. In minutes with Eason and no Reed, I expect the Rockets defense will be pretty stout next season. I'm really interested to see if there is synergy with all the long arms making passing windows tighter.

 

Who dribbles better.... ?

Jabari
Tari
Ariza

 

I'm expecting Tari to thrive next year as he's had a full, injury-free off-season to develop his game. When he broke into the league, Eason only had a right hand, but that was only because no one in college could stop him from making his primary move. It's not that he can't handle the ball; he has so much talent, he hasn't had to stretch himself to be a difference maker.

Last season, he hit that wall on both sides of the ball, leading to fan-described "boneheaded" plays and missed assignments. This off-season is Tari's chance to grow his game, and bringing in KD and DFS will be a huge help.

 

How can you play your way anywhere when you are injured most of the time?

 

I think Tari has incredible upside. Just a crazy gifted athlete and a dawg on defense. I'm glad he's on my team. He's a positive, impact player when healthy.

But he absolutely has ridiculous moments where he's making boneheaded plays. Often at the end of games. Those fans who described those plays, are right. I don't know that any of those are a result of a "wall" - he seriously seems to lack situational awareness. Shaq-tin a Fool, Javale McGee stuff. Hopefully he matures out of those moments.

 

The TMac dilemma.

 

I'm hesitant to pay Tari due to the leg.

It's a real dilemma for me as I like him.

Nevertheless, I'd look to put him in a deal for the right star.

 

Lol that's a good one

 

In order:
1 Tari
2 Ariza
3 Jabari

 

I wouldn’t mind if the Rockets extend Tari for a little less than Bari, and I wouldn’t mind if they decided to see how things play out next season in RFA. I do wonder if they are waiting to see what KD’s extension looks like before turning to Eason’s.

 

Honestly, I was hoping Tari would show real progress last season, but it feels like he’s basically the same player we drafted, maybe even a bit less effective on defense now. I know this might not be a popular take, but I’m hesitant about giving him a long-term deal. I just get the sense that if things don’t go his way contract-wise, he could end up causing some issues in the locker room. Plus, I haven’t had the best impression of Mama Eason either, which doesn’t help. All things considered, I think Tari is pretty expendable, and if we can use him to upgrade our shooting guard spot, I’d be all for it.

 

Blasphemy, Momster's the GOAT

 

Tari's defensive metrics are still stellar. His offensive game is coming around slower than I want but his entire 2nd year was pretty much wiped out so need to consider that. I'm not sure if this is well known but Tari's father passed away right at the end of the last season. I wouldn't hold his shaky end of season + playoff performance too much against him. Same with Mama Eason's manic tweeting.