Today is the deadline. As with any legal documents... it takes time, and back and forth negotiations. In my job I draw up contracts between my company and the companies we work with. Even if the business is won, we still have to go back and forth with both legal departments to fix language in the documents, etc. I've seen the back and forth take weeks or sometimes even months. Drawing up a contract like this in 48 hours without any notice from the Rockets lawyers is quite a challenge. That being said, they have probably been working around the clock to get this done. I would expect it to be done around 2 or 3PM. After that they will probably email over a copy of it around then to James and his agent to be signed, scanned, and returned before the deadline, and the pre-game tonight.
FYI they have till midnight to submit the extension. Since other extensions like Curry, Lawson, etc. are just now getting submitted right now, its easy to see why the Harden extension is taking a bit longer than anticipated.
Nothing to worry about. They'll most likely get it done since (1) the Rockets will gladly guarantee Harden right now as much money as or more money than what he can possibly get as a restricted FA next year, and (2) Harden is happy to play for the Rockets. The only issue I can see is if Harden is holding out for the 5 year, $78M extension instead of the 4 year $60M and the Rockets don't want to give it to him (they may very well have no problem with the 5 year deal, I just don't know what's going on). There may also be talks about player options (which the Rockets don't like, but gave to their last 2 max guys, Yao and McGrady). Bottom line: Harden is not going anywhere even if they don't get an extension done today. He will be RESTRICTED next season, so the Rockets can match all offers and most likely keep him for a long time (he can technically sign a 1 year qualifying offer to become unrestricted the year after next, but that's a stupid financial decision for Harden to make).
If there's news, somebody will post it here the first minute it comes out. You can count on that. No need to create threads asking for it.
It will be somewhat concerning if nothing gets done soon. It's always better to just lock everyone down now.
yup there might be 2 or 3 threads actually, everyone wants to act like they are the ones breaking the news..
I think Rockets will probably push for 4 yr 60 mil deal, but Harden and his agent may want 5 yr 78 mil. If so, they may finally settle on the 4 yr deal right before midnight tonight.
Adrian Wojnarowski @WojYahooNBA James Harden has agreed to a 5 year, $80 million deal with Houston, source tells Y!
