Reed Sheppard's fate could be sealed by one simple Rockets development

As the Houston Rockets attempt to furnish a young core, they have already extended both Jabari Smith Jr. and Alperen Sengun: a pair of major successes for the team's front office.

Yet, a number of looming extensions, including those for Tari Eason, Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard, still remain in the distance, and, if Eason is able to earn his payday this year, there could ultimately be no room for the team to retain Sheppard when the time comes.

While Sheppard is only entering his second season, and his new contract is still a rather long way off, the team will be further limited in its financial flexibility with a Kevin Durant extension, and Eason earning what he is worth could leave the team tied up well beyond Sheppard's restricted free agency.

A payday for Tari Eason could mean a Reed Sheppard trade in the distant future

As the Rockets enter the season, the devastating injury to Fred VanVleet and the addition of Kevin Durant has left a number of players with new roles they must step into.

The most pressing of these changes, undeniably, lies on Eason. Although he will likely still be the team's most vital bench player, his looming contract negotiations mean that any increase in his role could leave Houston in a difficult spot in attempting to pay him what he's worth.

The team has already committed $122 million to Smith and $185 million to Sengun, and, even if Durant accepts less than the max, the team will be close to if not past the second apron for seasons to come.

Eason certainly deserves to earn close to the money that Smith made given his importance to the team, and it is likely that, even if he accepts slightly less, he will still be earning somewhere north of $20 million a year on his new contract.

This brings us to the Sheppard issue. This season, after largely staying on the fringes of the rotation in his rookie year, Sheppard will be asked to take on significant minutes in order to account for the team's lack of backcourt depth.

As a potentially generational perimeter shooter, Sheppard's ability to acclimate to this new role could be massive for Houston's ability to put together a dangerous offense this season.

Yet, development from Sheppard also comes with a price: a pay day on his rookie extension. While this is not something that the Rockets will need to worry about until 2028, their entire young core will be under contract past that time, meaning that Sheppard will be difficult to retain if he does not prove to be at least as valuable as someone like Eason or Smith.

Therefore, Eason has the advantage of getting the opportunity to prove his value earlier in Houston's timeline, and, if he does, Sheppard could ultimately be left out in the cold.