The Houston Rockets made sure that their summer didn’t end before handing the richest contract in franchise history.
According to The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Rockets have signed star guard James Harden to a renegotiated four-year, $118 million deal that will take him through 2020.
This comes with NBA contracts themselves jumping up in value quite a bit due to historical increase we’ve seen in the salary cap this summer. It also comes with Harden previously playing under the five-year, $78.8 million deal he signed with the team back in October of 2012.
Harden’s new average annual salary of $29.5 million makes him the second highest-paid player in the NBA behind Mike Conley. He can opt out following the 2018-19 campaign.
While the Rockets made it clear that Harden is the face of the franchise after letting Dwight Howard walk in free agency, he’s not your traditional two-way player.
Instead, the high-scoring guard has been among the worst defenders at his position in the NBA over the past several years. That will surely make some question the decision.
What we do know is that Harden can flat out put the ball in the hoop. He’s led the NBA in points scored in each of the past two seasons, winning the scoring title back in 2014-15.