An “informed prediction” on the average annual salary for Tari Eason’s next contract is $22 million, per Varun Shankar, Rockets beat writer for the Houston Chronicle. It’s unclear whether that salary would initially be offered by the Rockets or from another team, at which point Houston would have to decide whether to match.
The Rockets and Eason will have an exclusive negotiating window once the 2026 NBA Finals conclude in June. Should those talks not result in an agreement, the 25-year-old would hit restricted free agency at the end of the month, with Houston having the right to match any outside proposal.
If spread over five years, which is the longest contract that Eason is eligible for, that $22-million figure would be approximately in line with the $100-million-plus deal (in total value) that Eason was reportedly offered during extension talks prior to the 2025-26 season.
At the time, those talks didn’t result in an agreement, perhaps due to a dispute over how much would be fully guaranteed. In Eason’s previous two years, he missed more than half of Houston’s regular-season games due to injury, primarily from a recurring issue with his lower left leg.
The good news is that Eason combined to play 66 regular-season and playoff games in the 2025-26 campaign, and his previous leg issue didn’t seem to be a problem. However, his on-court play was a bit more uneven, including a 3-point slump after the All-Star break and a career-low 46.3% shooting clip on two-point shots.
Defensively, Eason remains one of the most valuable and versatile players for head coach Ime Udoka. With the 6-foot-8 forward as a key piece, the Rockets have posted consecutive seasons with a 52-30 record and a top-six defense in the league.
“An informed prediction on the average annual salary for forward Tari Eason’s next contract: $22 million.” https://t.co/VMPuLVvEh9
— David Weiner #🟦 (@BimaThug) May 14, 2026
The Rockets are in line operate above the NBA’s 2026-27 salary cap, no matter what, so the expectation is that they’ll find a way to retain Eason — since they wouldn’t have a clear ability to replace him, should he leave.
But for future financial planning purposes, they’d certainly prefer his contract to be as team-friendly as possible. And rival suitors may test the lengths to which Rockets general manager Rafael Stone would go.
A $22-million annual figure for Eason would represent approximately 13% of next season’s projected $165-million salary cap, though the Rockets will exceed that, collectively, due to Bird rights. In 2026-27, Houston’s only players in line to make above 20% of the cap are the All-Star duo of Kevin Durant and Alperen Sengun, while Fred VanVleet and Jabari Smith Jr. are in the low-to-mid teens.
The rest of the roster is below 10%, though that will change in a big way once Amen Thompson begins his second NBA contract during the 2027-28 season.
Smith signed a five-year, $122-million contract extension with the Rockets last offseason, and that average annual value ($24.4 million) is slightly ahead of Eason’s rumored figure.
Both forwards were drafted by Houston in the 2022 first round.
“An informed prediction” on the average annual salary for Tari Eason’s next contract is $22 million per year, according to @ByVarunShankar
Eason averaged 10.5 points and 6.3 rebounds across 60 games this year pic.twitter.com/hGWf0B2QGX
— SleeperRockets (@SleeperRockets) May 15, 2026
This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: Report: Houston’s Tari Eason in line for $22-million annual contract