Rockets miss out on crown jewel of their offseason with failed Tari Eason extension

As the Houston Rockets neared the end of their offseason, it became clear that their primary financial priorities fell upon extending two players: Kevin Durant and Tari Eason.

Yet, while the team was able to extend Durant on a two-year, $90 million contract before the start of the season, they failed to reach an agreement with Tari Eason prior to today's deadline, and he will now become a restricted free agent next offseason.

While this does not indicate that Eason will not sign with the Rockets long term, it does indicate that there is some sort of disconnect between him and the organization, and Houston now does not have all of its affairs in order heading into the season.

Rockets could have had a perfect offseason had they completed a Tari Eason extension

This offseason, the Rockets were exceedingly active on the trade and free agent market, acquiring Durant and bringing Clint Capela and Dorina Finney-Smith onto the team.

Moreover, their ability to ink Durant to his $90 million extension granted them significant financial flexibility moving forward. The amount represents $30 million less than what he could have demanded, and Houston will now have roughly $80 million of wiggle room between them and the second apron next offseason.

Yet, Eason always represented a slightly trickier scenario. Although the organization said outwardly that they were looking to finalize Eason's deal before moving onto a Durant extension, the team likely cannot afford to pay Eason much more than a $20 million annual value on his next contract.

This means that, although Jabari Smith Jr. signed a 5-year, $122 million extension earlier this offseason, they could not use that as an exact model for Eason's contract.

Yet, Eason in his three seasons with the Rockets, has proven to be incredibly valuable off the bench, and it is quite possible that, in his representation's eyes, that, at the very least, is the figure he deserves.

Now, however, the team will head into next offseason needing to resign Eason, and ascendant young wing Amen Thompson will also be eligible for an extension.

While they will likely have enough financial flexibility to get both of these deals done, Eason's negotiations becoming contentious in any form could signify a more stagnant offseason for the team than they might have imagined.

Therefore, while their failure to ink Eason to a deal today does not mean this is the end of the road, it is certainly a failure that could come back to bite them in the future.