Rockets have a self-created Tari Eason problem that could haunt them all season

On Opening Night, Tari Eason didn’t end up playing a ton of minutes for the Houston Rockets. And even though his minute total jumped up in Game 2, his inability to put his own feelings aside showed up. He didn’t get an extension, he wasn’t atop the rotation, and it showed. Jake Fischer of The Stein Line recently spoke about it on a Bleacher Report live stream:

“Not at the top of their rotation,” Fischer said. “There’s a competitive roster structure with a lot of wings on that team. Dorian Finney-Smith didn’t play in the opener. So, will he be able to put this kind of behind him and move forward, and just focus on the task at hand, and let his play do the talking and not press about it? That will be an important factor. He was not capable of doing that Opening Night. But it was just Opening Night. Maybe there were some first-game jitters and what have you, but for now, that’s something that’s going to be top-of-mind in Houston moving forward.”

This could be a potential problem this season.

What is the potential Tari Eason problem?

Houston didn’t come to an agreement on an extension with Eason before the start of the season. There were offers that were made, but nothing ended up coming to fruition. And now, they’ll have to wait until the summer.

The worst-case scenario is that they end up in a similar position to the one Jonathan Kuminga and the Golden State Warriors found themselves in this summer. Kuminga wanted to be traded, and even though he eventually re-signed, it was a very dramatic issue.

Now, Eason will be playing for the Rockets this season in the final year of his contract with no extension, likely stressing about his next payday rather than solely focusing on playing basketball.

Add in the fact that he isn’t the top forward in the rotation and could end up in the back of the rotation on some nights, and it could be a relatively awkward season.

After Eason’s 21-minute night in the season opener vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder, which went to double overtime, he did end up playing 28 against the Detroit Pistons, though it was in a loss.

If Eason spends most of the season pressing, worried about his contract and playing time within the flow of Ime Udoka’s rotation, he likely won’t be playing his best.

The Easton situation is definitely one to monitor in Houston this season.