that’s more on Stone than Ime this past year, but he did the same last year. He is just terrible with rotations.
Varun Shankar: • An informed prediction on the average annual salary for forward Tari Eason’s next contract: $22 million. • Fred VanVleet has a $25 million player option for next season. The Athletic reported that the 32-year-old could decline it and “negotiate a new deal with Houston to provide some short-term cap flexibility in exchange for a few additional years of security.” To do so, VanVleet would probably need an offer with a total value somewhere around $50 million over three years, with the last perhaps a player option. • Do not expect Amen Thompson to get a max contract extension. Such a contract would pay him a quarter of the salary cap over the next few seasons, but the impressive guard/forward still faces enough questions about his shot and eventual offensive profile. That, combined with the Rocket' precedent of getting relatively team-friendly extensions (see Şengün, Alperen, above) should keep him in the ballpark of 20-23% of the salary cap.
