Rockets' Rafael Stone has one more move to finish a perfect summer

The Houston Rockets have inked Kevin Durant's extension. He took a team-friendly discount. If Rafael Stone can just extend Tari Eason, he'll have had the perfect summer.

That could be a controversial decision. To be sure, "perfection" is a high bar. Some feel strongly that Stone needed to bring in a guard. They think signing Clint Capela was a misallocation of resources.

Cry me a river.

The Rockets are leaning into an identity. They want size at (almost) every position at all times. Perhaps they'll need a ball-handler as the season wears on, but they've got too much talent to risk disaster finding out.

The purpose of the Capela signing was to ensure they can play double bigs at all times. That's important to their strategy, and Steven Adams is injury-prone. Even if you'd have done something else, that's defensible logic. It's been a nearly-perfect summer:

So, it's time to make Eason right.

Rockets must extend Tari Eason

If you've read my work in these pages, you know Eason's statistical profile. It's impressive enough to merit repeating.

He had a 3.6 Box Plus/Minus (BPM) in 2024-25. His 3.3% steal percentage would have been third in the NBA if he'd met the minimum games played requirement. His 9.4% offensive rebounding percentage would have led all wings.

The Rockets have built much of their identity around winning the possession battle. Few players (if any) produce as many extra possessions as Eason. If the Rockets miss, he's likely to get the ball. If the other team has the ball, guess what?

Eason is likely to get the ball.

Yes, his injury history looms. It's concerning, but the Rockets ought to extend Eason anyway. He's been too productive to avoid extending on those grounds alone.

That said, he does need to come at the right price.

Eason should take a team-friendly deal with the Rockets

ESPN's Tim Bontemps thinks Eason could be had on a 4-year, $80 million deal.

That seems fair for both sides. Eason should be happy to find long-term financial security, given his body's history. The Rockets should understand that this will be one of the best contracts in the NBA if he's able to stay healthy.

Perhaps the discounted Kevin Durant deal leaves wiggle room for a bit more. The bottom line is that Eason looks like he'll be one of the most impactful role players in the NBA if he can stay healthy. The Rockets should lock him up before Tuesday's season opener if possible:

It'll be the perfect end to a perfect summer.