The NBA is back! With the season officially tipping off this week, we can finally move on from the silly hypotheticals and wild tangents that pepper the offseason and focus on the games. Nah, who are we kidding? There will still be plenty of those ridiculous discussions during the season.
Another recurring theme as the season gets underway is the deadline for teams to sign young players to rookie contract extensions. In most cases, these sports deals are made with an eye toward the future. The rookies have shown flashes of potential but maybe not sustained greatness.
Sometimes, the moves pay off. Luka Dončić signed a five-year, $207 supermax deal with the Dallas Mavericks two summers ago. Since then, he’s added two more All-NBA First Team and NBA All-Star appearances to the ledger, and the Mavericks reached the NBA Finals last season.
The Houston Rockets are hoping for similar success—and they’re shelling out a ton of money to make it happen.
Alperen Şengün (L) and Jalen Green (Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
Alperen Şengün got a $185 million deal over five years, with a player option for the final season. That’s an average of $37 million and 24% of the team’s salary cap in 2025-26. Jalen Green received a three-year deal worth $106 million, also with a player option for the final season. Green’s annual average value is $35 million and will be worth 23% of the salary cap when it kicks in.
Both Şengün and Green could take a leap in production and become All-Stars. The Rockets are banking on that. But to this point, the team results haven’t been great.
They both came into the league during the 2021-22 season. In three years since their arrival, the Rockets are 83-163. A .337 winning percentage doesn’t scream success—that’s basically two losses every three games.
To be fair, the Rockets were trying to be bad the first two years of both players’ careers. They won a collective 42 games in those two seasons and then nearly equaled it last year alone, with the team finishing 41-41. And two players don’t make up an entire roster, even if the Rockets expect these two to be their top performers.
That’s why this season is such a critical one. The new contracts won’t kick in until next year, so the players are still on bargain deals. If they stay healthy and turn in impressive seasons, and the Rockets make the playoffs, there’s reason for optimism. But if there’s a major regression, perhaps team execs will get frustrated that nearly half the team’s salary is tied up in two guys.
Still, the Rockets are following a blueprint that’s worked for some teams: Be bad for a while, build up your team through the draft and smart trades and free agent signings, and then reap success in the playoffs. Besides, Şengün and Green are both only 22 years old. They still have time to reach their peaks.
It’s always a gamble, but if it pays off, it’ll look like a steal. And with the way the salary cap continues to skyrocket, these will likely be bargain deals by the time the contracts are up, anyway.