The Houston Rockets just made their biggest deal of the offseason, but it didn’t involve any new faces. Instead, we should get Tari Eason in the ketchup and mustard jerseys for the foreseeable future.
He and the front office came to terms on a fully guaranteed deal worth $81.5 million over the next five seasons. That nets out to an average of $16.3 million annually, though the exact details in each year aren’t yet known.
If it’s not the same flat rate every season, we could see the contract be front-loaded with the amount decreasing each year, or the opposite where he gets a slight pay raise every year.
Regardless, it’s interesting that there’s neither a team, nor player option for that fifth year. It almost feels like those are automatically put on the end of any four or five year deal.
Perhaps they couldn’t come to terms on which side would have power over that option, and went with the less common route of fully guaranteeing the full contract. Five years is a long time though, who knows what the league will look like in the 2030’s?
Tari Eason could be one of the most underpaid players in the league by then. It’ll almost certainly be lower than the Mid-Level Exception, which is already at $15 million.
That’s a very team friendly deal for a guy who has proven to be a key piece in the rotation of a playoff team. If he stays healthy and continues to improve, this contract will only look better for the Rockets.
