What contract extension terms would work for both the Rockets and Tari Eason?

From July 1 until the start of the NBA’s 2025-26 regular season on October 21, the window is open for contract extensions involving first-round picks from the 2022 draft class.

For the Houston Rockets, that list includes two players heading into their fourth professional seasons: Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason. Smith already agreed to a five-year extension at the beginning of that window.

Eason, however, has yet to reach an agreement. In a new column at The Athletic, John Hollinger — formerly an NBA front office executive — explains the conundrum:

For starters, the Rockets may have inadvertently set the bar for Eason when they did Smith’s deal. Given that Eason is a better player, it seems like Smith’s deal (five years and $124 million) should be Eason’s floor. Of course, realists will note that the true question is what the market will pay. While Eason’s hyperactive defense and aggressive transition play make him valuable, his half-court offensive limitations likely put a cap on his future paydays similar to how it would for Atlanta’s Dyson Daniels. …

The second issue here is the presence of both Smith and, more importantly, Durant; those two likely conspire to keep most of Eason’s minutes from being at his best position (power forward) and instead push him into wing roles that tax his offensive skill set and thus may make him look worse when he hits the market next summer.

BORD$ has a $21.7 million (annual) valuation on Eason, partly because his recent health track record has been shaky. But even if the Rockets and Eason had a workable number (say, three years for $65 million to $70 million), another issue crops up: The Rockets might not want to commit to paying him yet. Houston has multiple decisions on whom to pay in the coming seasons, and the Rockets will be particularly expensive in 2026-27 and 2027-28 regardless, assuming Durant signs an extension. Because of that, one wonders if Houston might choose to strategically cash in their Eason stock before next season, and if so, whether that would be more easily accomplished without an extension.

Eason averaged 12.0 points (48.7% FG, 34.2% on 3-pointers), 6.3 rebounds, and 1.4 steals in 24.9 minutes per game last season, and the 6-foot-8 forward is among Houston’s most versatile players. As Hollinger mentioned, his strengths with aggressive defense and as a transition force are unique and impactful.

Yet, this is a tricky situation to evaluate, as it pertains to total value.

Advanced tracking data suggests that Eason is an extremely impactful player, but he only played in 79 combined games over the past two regular seasons due to recurring leg issues. The LSU product has yet to average more than 25 minutes per game in the NBA.

Furthermore, to Hollinger’s point on half-court limitations, many of those same metrics suggest that Eason was Houston’s worst rotation player in the 2025 playoffs.

Then again, the playoff sample is extremely limited at seven games versus one opponent. It could be randomness, or perhaps the Golden State Warriors are simply a rough matchup for Eason’s skill set.

And as for Eason’s leg problem, it was surgically corrected in March 2024, and it’s not uncommon for it to take until the second season after surgery for players to fully recover. There are no indications that Houston is expecting it to be a career-altering injury.

It’s hard to envision the Rockets trading Eason, since scaling up his role in future years could help offset any decline from Durant (a forward who turns 37 in late September).

Yet, it’s also difficult to peg what a fair extension number prior to the 2025-26 season would look like. Eason has the upside to command what Smith received or more, but the durability questions linger.

So, perhaps a compromise could be Eason taking a shorter deal (along the lines of what Hollinger proposed) or even waiting until restricted free agency in 2026, in hopes of getting a larger payday once those durability concerns are reduced.

This path would involve at least some risk, relative to taking the longest possible contract and most total guaranteed money available in 2025. But there might also be more financial upside, if Eason is confident in his ability to stay healthy and put together a strong season or two before eventually signing a four- or five-year deal. Is he willing to make that type of calculated bet?

In some ways, the Smith-Eason dynamic is reminiscent of when Alperen Sengun and Jalen Green were extension eligible with the Rockets a year ago. Sengun was the steadier player with fewer long-term questions, while Green had significant upside but more volatility.

In Green’s case, that volatility was due to the inconsistent nature of his play. With Eason, it’s largely related to injuries. But in both cases, the challenge was finding a deal that made sense for the risk profile.

In 2024, Sengun got a straight five-year deal (as did Smith in 2025), while Green got a three-year contract with a player option after the second season. Perhaps the latter structure could also make sense for Eason, albeit at a lower annual figure due to the bench role that he’s primarily occupied to date.

But it’s worth remembering that Eason is older than many players in his draft class, having turned 24 years old in May. Green was 22 last offseason, as was Smith when he signed his extension a few weeks ago.

With Eason being closer to what will likely be his prime NBA years as a player, that could put more pressure on him to maximize his earning power in these negotiations — since he might not have quite as much time to recoup any perceived losses via future deals.

Then again, after experiencing health scares over the past two seasons, it’s also plausible that Eason might want to take as much guaranteed money as possible this offseason and worry about everything else later. After all, waiting a year to lock in that next contract inherently brings a risk of further injuries or underperformance over the ensuing season.

Regardless of the path, expect Eason to be around for the foreseeable future. By all indications, he enjoys playing for the Rockets, and head coach Ime Udoka — who greatly appreciates defensive tenacity, versatility, and hustle — likes having Eason in his rotation.

And even if a deal isn’t reached in 2025, Eason’s options as a restricted free agent in 2026 are limited, since Houston would have the right to match any outside offer that he might receive. This offseason, the market for restricted free agents has been quite unfavorable for those players, which could give Houston more leverage in negotiations.

But Eason’s unique risk-reward profile complicates any projection, and Houston’s increasing payroll and team salary concerns will put more pressure on the Rockets to negotiate a team-friendly number. Stay tuned!

More: With unique contract structures, Rockets working to mitigate 2027-28 financial crunch

This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: What extension terms would work for both the Rockets and Tari Eason?

What contract extension terms would work for both the Rockets and Tari Eason?

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