Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun are not expected to receive max contract extension offers from the Houston Rockets, selon Kelly Iko de TheAthletic.
As a reminder, the two players, drafted in the first round, can sign an extension at the end of their third year, early, or at the end of the 4th year. According to the journalist, it is more likely that the Houston Rockets will wait until next season to discuss an extension. Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun will then be restricted free agents.
The franchise prefers to wait and see rather than commit now. While it has a promising core, it is also facing a roster that could quickly cost it dearly. While the two young talents are eligible for an extension this season, Jabari Smith Jr. will be eligible next summer.
These players have shown great things since the beginning of their careers, but perhaps not enough for the Rockets to already see them with certainty as future big stars of the league. Even if we can say that the Turk Alperen Sengun has reached a real milestone this season (21.1 pts, 9.3 rbds and 5 pds).
So the Houston Rockets are preferring to wait. Especially since signing max extensions now would make them very difficult to trade, if Houston deemed it necessary. Because of what some call the “poison pill restriction” included in the contract extension.
Concretely, when there is an extension of a rookie contract before the end of said contract, it creates a very complicated situation that almost prevents any trade before the extension begins. The idea is that there is a big difference between the salary of the current season (the last of the initial contract) – which is taken into account in the calculation of the outgoing salary of the team that releases the player in the trade – and the salary of the first season of the extension – which is taken into account in the calculation of the incoming salary of the team that receives the player.
As a result, there is a real asymmetry and the balance of the trade counterparts is much too complicated (and costly for one of the two teams) to find.
Whether it’s because they’re not sure they’re dealing with two real stars or because they’re even considering the possibility of trading them in the upcoming season, the Houston Rockets are therefore determined to wait.
It remains to be seen how Alperen Sengun and Jalen Green will “receive” this message.
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