Houston Rockets: Luxury tax woes limited Danuel House’s rejected offer

The Houston Rockets are in luxury tax hell and it limited their ability in offering Danuel House what he was looking for. What’s going on? Let’s look.

The exciting drama in regard on whether or not the Houston Rockets  would offer Danuel House a contract is over, at least for now.  The talented basketball player that has made a massive contribution to prevent the Houston Rockets to falling to the cellar of the Western Conference is going back to the G League, where his career with the team started.

House had been on a two-way contract since being signed in early December and the terms limit the amount of time a player can stay up in the pros without being offered a standard pact.  It was expected that the Houston Rockets were going to act in good faith to be fair with the contract negotiations but it’s apparent that House and his representation Raymond Brothers, rejected two offers the team made.

According to FOX 26’s Mark Berman, House was offered two contractual terms — a three-year non-guaranteed deal or a three-year guaranteed money deal of which both offers were rejected by House’s camp.

ESPN’s Tim MacMahon indicated that the Houston Rockets mantra is to get a multi-year commitment from players that they’ve developed and the deal was reportedly worth three years, $4.16 million to which, MacMahon said, is on par with what late first-round draft picks get.

House’s level of experience and his impact should’ve warranted an offer that should’ve been on shorter terms but a lot more money upfront.  MacMahon also outlined via Brothers that House wants to be a restricted free agent this summer.

In past seasons before the era of the Houston Rockets paying max money to players, if this were a scenario, this deal would’ve been a slam dunk and all parties would’ve been happy.

But that’s not the case as this team has an estimated $361 million tied up on James Harden, Chris Paul and Clint Capela over the next four years.

The team is dangerously past the luxury tax threshold, limiting their options in terms of signing the players that they want.  The luxury tax line is $132 million this season and the team currently has $139 million committed to salaries for 2018-19, $7 million over the line.  With the penalties invoked for going over the line, this already hits the Rockets with an $11.7 million tax bill for this season.

Signing House for the rest of the season to a highly-loaded offer would’ve spiraled their bill out of control but to be honest, at this point, they should’ve still offered the man what he wants.

I know the team is minimizing risk in case House gets injured and they’re on the hook for his salary but with a guy that’s been starting for this for the past month and a half and totally gets Mike D’Antoni‘s system, I think this short-term hit to the line would’ve been warranted.

But in the grand scheme of things, $11.7 million is a lot of money and it’s understandable the Rockets took the stance that they did with House.

House can come back to the table and accept the offer or he can bet on himself, finish out the

More from House of Houston

• Are you the 2021 FanSided Sports Fan of the Year?
• Houston Texans: 4 reasons Romeo Crennel is right coach right now
• Astros-Twins Wild Card Series: 5 things to know as MLB postseason begins
• Houston Texans: The Most Underrated Sports Drought Ever
• Houston Texans: J.J. Watt’s early case for NFL Hall of Fame

season in the G League and hit free agency this summer unrestricted.  That may not be a bad idea for his pursuits, particularly with the massive amount of national coverage this story is getting.  He’ll have to endure the long bus rides, mediocre hotels and smaller crowds for a few more months but from the decision that he made, he’s willing to make that sacrifice.

I don’t think any of the luxuries of being in the pros matters to him as long as he gets to his goal on his terms and I certainly can’t blame him for that.

In the meantime, according to NBA Insider Shams Charania, the Rockets have signed 28-year-old serviceable vet/small forward James Nunnally to a 10-day contract so they’ve already sprung into action their Plan B. There’s a possibility he may be available for tonight’s match up against the Brooklyn Nets at Toyota Center.  He had a recent stint earlier this season with the Minnesota Timberwolves and was in talks to sign with Baskonia of the EuroLeague but nothing was finalized.  It doesn’t matter now, he’s a Rocket.

We’ll have to see how all of this pans out but this has been interesting saga thus far.

House, 25, has been averaging 9.0 points and 3.6 rebounds with a shooting line of .458/.390/.818 through 25 games — 12 starts — this season.