Alpi, Amen, and Green are the core of the core of the core

I didnt see it that way, I saw it as Rockets offering Jalen lower money for guaranteed years like say 28 for 5, and thats why Jalen said he will agree to a shorter contract for more money and a player option.

That makes more sense to me than Rockets offering Jalen 38/5 and then Jalen naw give me 33/3 with player option. Why will Jalen argue to take lower salary? He can say shorten his contract to 3 yrs but cant think of a reason why he would want to lower his salary per year.

As Rockets GM, Stone's goal is to offer the lowest possible contract at the longest year. As such, his salary offer to Jalen will be lower than what he will accept not higher than what he will accept. For example Sengun thought he deserved 42M and Stone probably gave him a lower offer like 30M and they both agreed to 38M. Your scenario where Stone offers Green 38M and Green says nah give me 33M but make it shorter doesnt seem realistic to me. If Jalen signed for way below market value like 25M or below then ok I can say you are right.

 

Thats the bright side but a risk you wouldnt have to take if you thought you were getting paid properly.

Like Sengun could have taken his 1 yr deal and gotten a max as early as 2026. The reality is once you break past 100M you value job security already over being the next Dennis Schroder or Nerlens Noel.

 

Sorry dude, that does not make sense.

First, I agree with you that Stone’s goal is always lowest value and longest years.

Now, what did Jalen get:

• Higher contract (per your theory) - Jalen wins
• Shorter years - Jalen wins
• Player option - Jalen fking wins

Are you kidding me? Either Jalen has the best managers in the world, or Stone is an idiot to ship out a contract so lopsided in favor of Jalen.

No. Does not make sense at all.

 

I agree with the general sentiment of your post and thought Jalen played well, but he had 0 assists and 7 turnovers. Alpi had 2 assists, 2 turnovers.

 

And Jalen had almost as many rebounds as our starting center (10/7) more points and a better +/-. I know you get my point. It's a losing proposition to continually pit this player vs. that player on the same team. Especially when the team wins and is having what anyone would call a great season thus far. So, the players and coaches must be doing something right.

Jalen is trending up, Amen is emerging, Alpi has gotten better defensively. This team is young and yet are second in a very tough western conference, yet some folks will still find a way to be negative about player A or B. It's just tiring seeing the same lame criticisms of certain players and it's definitely why I've put many on ignore and I limit my time here now.

 

Jalen has been an iron man, and still improving, however slowly it may be. At this rate, he will be getting a max contract somewhere after the extension. So it’s not much of a gamble and yes a win for him.

Rockets would care if he breaks out and they can’t retain him. Ask OKC and Harden.

 

Of course we can. But don’t you think Rockets would prefer lock him up on a cheaper rookie extension deal for longer years than having to pay him max money early? With the projected cap raise, that’s a significant difference. I’d say Jalen made a smart choice.

 

Jalen 1st

He leading scorer…

 

Yep! That's like saying Rodman is 1st option, Kukoc 2nd and Jordan 3rd.

 

Yes I think he will get a max, worth or not.

I’ll admit I’m terrible at cap stuff. So correct me if I’m wrong. Next year’s cap is projected to be 154m. His 33m is taking up 20% of the cap already. Why is it a leap to say he will be getting 25% for his next contract with 2/3 more years of maturity, growth and experience?

 

Players dont want shorter years they want longer years for more security. Stone would only want longer years if they can lock a guy for less value.

If you compare Jalen deal to Sengun deal Jalen is making 92M in less guaranteed money. Jalen isnt winning there. If Jalen goes to free agency right now will anybody offer him the max? No, right? So thats why he would have wanted more guaranteed dollars.

 

The assumption you are making is Jalen is worth 33M already.

Compare Jalen to Derrick White is making 30M or Tyler Herro who is making 25M. "Hot" Jalen is worth 33M but not average or cold Jalen.

 

Rox dont know if Jalen is good or not, they'd rather try him out for short term for now and trade him if he sucks even if they have to pay the max earlier if he is worth it.

Circling back thats why Sengun and Amen are the core and Jalen isnt (for now).

 

The % of the cap he’ll be getting may or may not increase (again I’m terrible with cap stuff). But the money will have a big increase for sure, with the projected cap raise.

 

Huh? Jalen extension is already fixed even if cap rises by 300% he will make the same as his contract..