Can I Get An Amen? 5y, $208MM

[SkyHook]

I like Amen, but that's a lot of money for a guard who can't shoot outside of 10 feet.

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[Texas Chuck]

It's too much, but I get it. Duren is also going to see a $40M+ AAV and I don't think this moves him closer to accepting the Pistons offer.

Sadly Detroit, like many teams wasn't aggressive enough when their core was cheap and their title window is likely to close before it ever fully opened.

[HornetJail]

this is one of those deals that looks terrible now and probably stays that way

[MoneyTalks41890]

Can he develop a shot and better PG skills?

They did poach Engelland. His results for OKC I think were a bit mixed overall.

But those are the questions that determine his upside.

[Godaddycurse]

I am ok with a team having either of Sengun's 37M contract or Amen's 41.5M contract, but not both together

I wonder what Ausar is going to get now though

[Bentley1225]

$160-180M would have been my guess over 5 years.

[Texas Chuck]

It's too much, but I get it. Duren is also going to see a $40M+ AAV and I don't think this moves him closer to accepting the Pistons offer.

Sadly Detroit, like many teams wasn't aggressive enough when their core was cheap and their title window is likely to close before it ever fully opened.

Oops I had the wrong twin.

This one bothers me less just because Houston doesn't have a Cade so you aren't hurting a potential championship team. You are just trying to keep your 45-50 win team together.

[LarsV8]

You are just trying to keep your 45-50 win team together.

Rofl.

[Snakebites]

It's too much, but I get it. Duren is also going to see a $40M+ AAV and I don't think this moves him closer to accepting the Pistons offer.

Sadly Detroit, like many teams wasn't aggressive enough when their core was cheap and their title window is likely to close before it ever fully opened.

Oops I had the wrong twin.

This one bothers me less just because Houston doesn't have a Cade so you aren't hurting a potential championship team. You are just trying to keep your 45-50 win team together.

May be the wrong twin, but it could be interpreted as a not-so-great omen for what an Ausar extension would cost.

I don’t think he’s worth as much as Amen but he won’t be cheap.

My worry is we’ll have Duren and Ausar on big contracts and still be wondering who Cade’s number two is (since I don’t think either of them are).

Not an ideal spot to be in. We’ll see what actually happens.

[hugepatsfan]

One of the worst contracts in the NBA IMO. He won't ever play his way into this.

[ReggiesKnicks]

You are just trying to keep your 45-50 win team together.

Rofl.

What do you disagree about? Do you think the Houston Rockets are a 60-win team?

[gswhoops]

It's too much, but I get it. Duren is also going to see a $40M+ AAV and I don't think this moves him closer to accepting the Pistons offer.

Sadly Detroit, like many teams wasn't aggressive enough when their core was cheap and their title window is likely to close before it ever fully opened.

Oops I had the wrong twin.

This one bothers me less just because Houston doesn't have a Cade so you aren't hurting a potential championship team. You are just trying to keep your 45-50 win team together.

May be the wrong twin, but it could be interpreted as a not-so-great omen for what an Ausar extension would cost.

I don’t think he’s worth as much as Amen but he won’t be cheap.

My worry is we’ll have Duren and Ausar on big contracts and still be wondering who Cade’s number two is (since I don’t think either of them are).

Not an ideal spot to be in. We’ll see what actually happens.

Yeah. I'm not sure how much room you have to improve if you have Cade on a (fully deserved) max and Duren/Ausar both making $35M+ per year.

[hugepatsfan]

You are just trying to keep your 45-50 win team together.

Rofl.

What do you disagree about? Do you think the Houston Rockets are a 60-win team?

They've 52 games back to back years so 45-50 seems harsh since the range doesn't even include last 2 years of results. So I say TC's point stands just "50-ish instead of 45-50 if you want to do semantics.

The main point is that it's a team being held back from going any higher because their total offensive ineptness and they just locked up one of the primary culprits of that.

[Snakebites]

Oops I had the wrong twin.

This one bothers me less just because Houston doesn't have a Cade so you aren't hurting a potential championship team. You are just trying to keep your 45-50 win team together.

May be the wrong twin, but it could be interpreted as a not-so-great omen for what an Ausar extension would cost.

I don’t think he’s worth as much as Amen but he won’t be cheap.

My worry is we’ll have Duren and Ausar on big contracts and still be wondering who Cade’s number two is (since I don’t think either of them are).

Not an ideal spot to be in. We’ll see what actually happens.

Yeah. I'm not sure how much room you have to improve if you have Cade on a (fully deserved) max and Duren/Ausar both making $35M+ per year.

Correct.

I believe we have SOME trade flexibility during this season (before Ausar's extension kicks in) but not much. It's not the best spot to be in to be sure.

[Texas Chuck]

You are just trying to keep your 45-50 win team together.

Rofl.

Last 3 seasons: 52, 52,41

I feel like I pegged them pretty accurately no?

This isn't an insult to Houston btw. They don't have a superstar so until they can get one, maintaining a playoff team is a good result. Detroit is different because Cade isn't quite a championship level anchor, but he's close enough that they can dream of a Knicks like team with good starters everywhere with Cade playing the Brunson role. Houston doesn't have that path, so clogging the payroll with more of these big contracts to good players isn't as big of a negative.

[Jojothewhale]

This one bothers me less just because Houston doesn't have a Cade so you aren't hurting a potential championship team. You are just trying to keep your 45-50 win team together.

Cade also got too much for what he currently was when he signed his extension. I say that not because I disagree with you here, but to illustrate why I struggle so much to have an opinion on these contracts. If the players take a leap or two, they're great. If they don't they're a clear overpayment. Middle grounds almost never exist. So what I personally try to do is think of whether that player is talented enough to be worth the shot and that's good enough for me. Amen clears that bar. Still might be a disaster!

I could not agree with you more on teams with young true stars making the mistake of passivity. You need both stars and depth to win. The goal of a well run org isn't to win a title. It's to put yourself into the contender tier and then hope your skill and luck align. Whenever those opportunities exist, they need to be explored because it's incredibly difficult to keep churning the roster via youth that pans out. Or to put it another way, it's more likely than not that the world was one Haliburton injury away from the SGA Thunder never winning a title. You can't take things for granted in the NBA. It's the toughest major North American to win a title in by some distance.

[Snakebites]

You are just trying to keep your 45-50 win team together.

Rofl.

Last 3 seasons: 52, 52,41

I feel like I pegged them pretty accurately no?

This isn't an insult to Houston btw. They don't have a superstar so until they can get one, maintaining a playoff team is a good result. Detroit is different because Cade isn't quite a championship level anchor, but he's close enough that they can dream of a Knicks like team with good starters everywhere with Cade playing the Brunson role. Houston doesn't have that path, so clogging the payroll with more of these big contracts to good players isn't as big of a negative.

I've got Cade as a better all-round player than Brunson.

In my entirely unbiased opinion. (ducks to avoid projectiles thrown at me by angry Knicks fans)

But yeah- he's not Shai, Jokic, Wemby or Luka. He's one tier below that.

I can say with reasonable confidence that he's better than anyone the Rockets have though. I guess they're hoping they'll be better next year with FVV back? He doens't feel like the type of guy who's the difference between a non-contender and a contender, but you never know I guess.

[ReggiesKnicks]

Did people actually think he was going to get less?

He is an incredibly unique player with an impactful skill-set. Polarizing player and is making ~20% of the cap.

He is being paid 49th highest next season (quick glance). I think that's fine.

[OutsidetheNBA]

Yeah, I think this deal is completely fine -- pays him for his current production. Rockets get the upside if he improves.

[OutsidetheNBA]

You are just trying to keep your 45-50 win team together.

Rofl.

Rockets over/under this year is 46.5 at most books. Great opportunity if you think they're better than 50 wins.