James Harden signed what was then a max contract extension with the Rockets back on Halloween of 2012. That netted him $13.7 million last season, and he will make $14.7 million next year.
However, the salary cap has risen quickly in recent years, so guys getting max extensions this year can make a little more — Chandler Parsons is also going to make $14.7 million next season, for example.
Rockets big man Donatas Motiejunas thinks Houston couldn’t match Parsons without ticking off Harden… and there may well be something to that. Here is what Motiejunas told Lithuanian basketball reporter Simonas Baranauskas (hat tip James Herbert at CBS’s Eye on Basketball).
https://twitter.com/LithuaniaBasket/statuses/493149571741413376
https://twitter.com/LithuaniaBasket/statuses/493149801626992642
https://twitter.com/LithuaniaBasket/statuses/493150285377048576
Just to make sure we are accurate, Parsons will make $728,844 less than Harden this year.
It’s an interesting argument put forward by the Rocket big man, but it falls apart here: If Chris Bosh had signed with the Rockets (as they had thought would happen) then the Rockets were going to match Parsons. Harden would have been third for sure with Parsons right on his heels… and if the Rockets were winning he wouldn’t have really cared about the money.
I think what Rockets GM Daryl Morey said was the truth for him — Parsons is a good player but not the start they wanted to pay $14.7 million to and lock them into that big three. There’s some logic there.
But the Rockets bet big this summer and lost depth with Parsons (if last year’s Ariza comes to Houston that spot will be okay, but that’s an if), Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin all gone. Parsons is not an easily replaceable piece and the Rockets don’t look to be a better team then a year ago.