Report: Houston Rockets Could Give Chris Bosh A Max Deal

As the free agency season winds on, the Houston Rockets expect to be out front in acquiring a pivotal player that will bolster their roster for the future.

Another high profile free agent that the Rockets are targeting is power forward Chris Bosh.

This is, of course, contingent on if Carmelo Anthony decides uproot elsewhere or decides to stay in Gotham City.

Although the Rockets made an excellent pitch and that he spent six hours in Houston listening to the Rockets pitch to him, it’s apparent that the Los Angeles Lakers are become serious contender in landing the veteran forward and seven-time All-Star.

Here’s what Adrian Wojnarowski reported in regard to the Lakers pursuit:

Lakers have moved into serious contention on Carmelo Anthony, multiple sources tell Yahoo. "In the game now," one source close to Melo says.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 5, 2014

The Lakers are prepared to offer him four-year, max deal worth about $95 million. This is alarmingly close to what the Rockets could offer the star — so I’m assuming the allure of Hollywood has gotten to him. So far, none of the offers compare to what the New York Knicks can offer him. It has been said that they can offer a five-year max deal worth $129 million. So will he stay with the Knicks or go elsewhere? That’s for him to decide but the Rockets have Bosh as their Plan B. Many believe the Rockets will offer Bosh either a max contract, or as close to max as possible once they clear the necessary cap space. Ken Berger (CBSSports) believes the near-max market is out there for Bosh and many have reported the Rockets would give it to him.

"Multiple league sources say there will be a close-to-max market for Bosh if Anthony and James stay with their respective teams. One of those people, an executive with a rival team, said the growing belief around the league is that Bosh would prefer a four-year max deal with another team to a discounted longer deal with Miami."

Bosh averaged 16.2 points, 6.6 rebounds while shooting 51 percent from the field in 32 minutes of action per game. These numbers are slightly down from his production from the past two seasons but expect a slight uptick in those numbers if the Rockets are successful in landing him.