Houston Rockets: James Harden To Sign A Super-Max Contract In 2017?
As the Houston Rockets have been coasting to a 22-8 record with rather few bumps on the road, one of mainstays of this new culture of winning is in place.
As the Houston Rockets have been coasting to a 22-8 record with rather few bumps on the road, one of mainstays of this new culture of winning is in place.
Yes, you know who I’m talking about.
The declared savior to our once mediocre but watchable basketball team parachuted down with the likes of his beard some five years ago.
Can you believe it has been that long?
Time has flown as we’ve seen some spectacular basketball during that short time span.
You remember how it was.
We were competitive but hadn’t made the playoffs since the days where Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady ruled the courts, albeit injured most of the time.
We had started leaning off the star power of Luis Scola, Goran Dragic, Kevin Martin and Courtney Lee as the guys to put our faith in to win basketball games.
With all due respect to these gentlemen, we honestly needed a superstar that was going to elevate this team to the stratosphere.
Harden is certainly that guy — with him on the roster, you can be re-assured that this team will be competing for something meaningful every time he’s in the lineup.
You know it and I know it.
These Rockets, a culmination of Daryl Morey’s vision, are something special this year.
But amid all of the team’s success, the NBA and its players agreed to the latest rendition of their collective bargaining agreement.
There’s still a lot of language that many are combing through to find the strongest/weakest points of the new deal but there’s quite a tidbit that you need to know about.
Now try this on for size…
The CBA now offers a “grandfather clause” where a player that has eight to nine years of service time in the league the opportunity to sign a back-to-back contract extension.
This off season, Harden signed a four-year, $118 million extension that locks him up until 2019-20, where he’ll average $30 million in pay per season, a healthy double to the $15 million per that he was making.
Adrian Wojnarowski of the Vertical mentions that Harden could sign yet another extension that could be worth around four years, $171 million, shoring up things for him even longer with more cash flowing his way.
But with Harden just signing his deal, he may be more likely to wait as the NBA salary cap is estimated to be in upwards of $120 million in 2020 up from the current $94.1 million.
Nonetheless, if he wanted to, he certainly could go back to the bargaining table with Rob Pelinka, Les Alexander and Daryl Morey to negotiate another extension.
But don’t bet your bottom dollar, or in Harden’s case, millions of dollars.
Moreover, he has truly morphed himself a marketable brand.
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With endorsement deals such as the one he landed with Adidas last year worth up to $200 million, Harden could be a billionaire before he retires from the game.
That was once an unheard of feat back in the days of the NBA’s infancy but it goes to show that the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement is a fair one.
It allows the players, the most important piece, to enjoy the fruits of the Association’s labor to be one of the most revered professional sports leagues in the world.
Wow.
And as for us fans, when we do lineup on La Branch Street for the championship parade in hopefully the near future, you’d better believe Harden will be perched on top of the fire truck holding up the gleaming Larry O’Brien trophy for us all to behold.
Let’s hope for sooner than later — go Rockets.