Rockets Rumors: Trevor Ariza won’t demand $50-60 million in free agency

Rockets’ forward Trevor Ariza won’t demand a $50-60 million deal from potential suitors in free agency as a report from a few weeks ago seemed to suggest.

Earlier in June, Kelly Iko of the Rockets Wire reported that Trevor Ariza is seeking a deal between $50-60 million in free agency. Luckily for Houston, that speculation may not be true.

According to Yahoo Sports’ Shams Charania, there is ‘no truth’ to the claims that Ariza will demand such a large contract this summer. Maybe Ariza realized that he wouldn’t get a $50-60 million deal from any team, or maybe those earlier reports were just completely inaccurate.

Either way, this is good news for the Rockets. If Ariza were to demand at least a $50 million deal, Houston would have to let him walk. James Harden already has a max contract and we’ll assume that it will take a max to retain both Chris Paul and Clint Capela. The Rockets are also reportedly going ‘all in’ on landing LeBron James this summer.

Houston could head into next season with four max contracts on the books. In that case, those four contracts would already be pushing the NBA’s salary cap, but the Rockets would still have to fill out the rest of their roster.

Also, Trevor Ariza will turn 33 on June 30, so age will start to become a factor. Not to mention, Ariza has a tendency to disappear offensively, like his forgettable 0-for-12 shooting night in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals.

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Ariza played well last season, averaging 11.7 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. He fits the 3-and-D role perfectly and he’s usually a healthy player.

The Rockets would love to have Trevor Ariza back next season, just not on a $50-60 million deal.