Earlier this week, the Houston Rockets agreed to fully guarantee the salary in the final season of P.J. Tucker‘s existing four-year contract, which expires after the 2020-21 league year.
The 6-foot-5 Tucker, who is now Houston’s starting center as part of a recent transition to a smaller lineup, will make just short of $8 million next season. Less than half of that final year’s amount was previously guaranteed under the terms of his four-year, $32-million contract, which Tucker signed with the Rockets in July 2017.
According to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, though, Tucker still has his eyes on a bigger prize in the form of a contract extension — which he first requested last summer.
The Rockets on Sunday agreed to guarantee the remainder of Tucker’s contract, though given his out-sized role, it seemed obvious they would. That still falls short of the extension he wanted and will seek in July.
“I think I deserved a contract extension, but I didn’t get it,” Tucker said. “Life goes on. Keep playing. It’s something I’ll deal with and play on.”
In three seasons in Houston, Tucker is averaging 6.9 points (37.3% on 3-pointers) and 6.0 rebounds in 32.0 minutes per game. Though he’s one of the team’s older players at 34 years old, he’s the only Rocket to play in every game in both the regular season and playoffs over those years.
He’s widely regarded as one of the NBA’s best and toughest defenders, and also one of the top leaders in the Houston locker room.
But Tucker will also be 36 years old when his current deal expires in mid-2021. That will make him older player by NBA standards, which in turn makes extending the contract far in advance a risky proposition for GM Daryl Morey and Houston’s front office.
The Rockets apparently weren’t willing to do it last offseason, when they were two seasons away from knowing how well Tucker’s game will have aged at the expiration of his current contract.
Perhaps their thinking in the 2020 offseason will be different, once they’re only a year away from the expiration date.
