‘Fearless fight’: Rafael Stone views Tari Eason’s mentality as key to Rockets

But for future financial planning and luxury tax purposes, they’d certainly prefer his contract to be as team-friendly as possible.

The Rockets and Eason tried and failed to reach an extension agreement ahead of the 2025-26 season. However, both sides knew that re-engaging after the season was always possible, and the restricted status gives the team the ability to match any outside offer. So, patience was a realistic option for both sides.

And for the Rockets, they did learn more about Eason in the months since those negotiations. Prior to 2025-26, Eason had widely been viewed as something of an injury risk after missing significant time in his second and third NBA seasons due to a recurring issue with his lower left leg.

However, Eason didn’t seem to have many issues with that leg this season, and the 6-foot-8 forward was able to play in 66 games (combining both the regular season and playoffs). That might ease some of those previous durability concerns.

In a career-high 25.8 minutes, Eason averaged 10.5 points (35.8% on 3-pointers), 6.3 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game. As alluded to in Stone’s comments, hremains one of Houston’s most valued and versatile defenders, as well.

Eventually, Eason is expected to land a deal worth in the vicinity of $22 million annually, the Houston Chronicle’s Varun Shankar reported. The amount of years and guarantees remains unclear.

It is worth noting that Eason enjoyed a strong showing in Houston’s recently completed playoff series versus the Los Angeles Lakers, as shown by Rockets being 15.7 points better in net rating with Eason on the floor. That on-off differential was second among rotation players, trailing only Amen Thompson.

That could perhaps incentivize the team to get a deal done, sooner rather than later. Eason’s success in the 2026 playoffs came in direct contrast to Houston’s 2025 first-round series versus the Golden State Warriors, when his -15.1 differential was worst among rotation players.

The Rockets finished each of their last two seasons with 52-30 records and first-round playoff exits, and the internal belief is that continued growth from their “young core” of prospects can help get the team over that hump. In total, Houston has five first-round players from the 2021 through 2024 draft classes on its roster

Retaining Eason is certainly a key part of that formula.

More: Report: Houston’s Tari Eason in line for $22-million annual contract

This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: ‘Fearless fight’: Rafael Stone views Tari Eason’s mentality as key to Rockets