The Houston Rockets are in a great place as a franchise entering the 2025 offseason following their first playoff appearance since the 2019-2020 campaign.
Not only did the team improve its win total from the 2023-24 campaign by 11 this past season, but it also captured the Southwest Division crown. With several talented young players already playing major roles on the team and a top-10 pick in the 2025 draft via the Phoenix Suns, this will be an important offseason for the front office.
With sizable pay raises on the way for Jalen Green and Alpern Sengun once the 2025-26 season tips off, Houston's front office will need to make adjustments to the roster they carried this past year, and one player who was on an expiring deal cannot leave town soon enough.
Overpaid Rockets SF Jae'Sean Tate Robbed Houston Blind This Season
The Rockets signed Tate to a three-year, $20.6 million deal during the summer of 2022. That deal will come off the books this summer, and it couldn't come at a better time. Tate's path to the NBA should be celebrated as he earned his way to the NBA with successful runs overseas following his collegiate career at Ohio State University.
With all that being said, Tate did not come close to performing up to the level expected this past season. When you consider his $7.6M contract accounted for over 5% of the team's total cap number, he did not play up to the level of his deal. Tate averaged career lows in points (3.6 per game), rebounds (2.3 per game), assists (0.9 per game), and games played (52).
Of all the players on the roster, the only two who were less impactful from a statistical point of view were Nate Williams and Jack McVeigh. Williams earned just over $515,000 this past season while McVeigh was on a two-way contract. With all due respect to those two, that is not the company you want to keep when you're making the money Tate earned this past season.
Tate's contract will no longer be on the books moving forward. While Houston fans should be thankful for what he provided the team during the early portion of his tenure with the Rockets, it is also time to move on from the veteran to fill his spot on the roster with a player more likely to make meaningful contributions moving forward.