The 2025-26 season is here! The Rockets open their season, with Kevin Durant making his Houston debut, tonight in Oklahoma City.

Come join Ben DuBose and I live after the game on the ClutchFans YouTube channel as we discuss and react to how the season opened up.

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The extension deadline came and went today and the Rockets did not come to a contract agreement with Tari Eason.

Maybe in hindsight this should have been foreseen — the Rockets signed Jabari Smith Jr. early in the summer but never followed that with news of a locked-up Tari. Eason himself expressed what appeared to be frustration at Media Day before training camp opened, and then Kevin Durant’s extension announcement came without a Tari deal preceding it.

Ben DuBose and I discuss what this means for the Rockets — restricted free agency in the summer, likely value differences between the front office and Tari’s camp, the possibility of Tari being traded and we also discuss the Kevin Durant extension.

Just as he suggested when training camp opened, Kevin Durant has indeed signed a contract extension to remain with the Houston Rockets.

The two-year extension, which is the maximum contract length Durant can sign at 37 years old, is for $90 million and contains a player option for year two, per ESPN’s Shams Charania.

While Durant’s deal is for the maximum length, it is not for maximum money. Durant was eligible to sign a two-year deal for as much as $122 million, so the agreement represents a sizable discount for the future Hall of Famer.

With a deep and increasingly expensive roster, the Rockets are taking a diligent approach to planning out future payrolls, which incentivized general manager Rafael Stone to reach deals early and negotiate team-friendly numbers.

“The Rockets were a projected $80 million below the second (luxury tax) apron for next season,” writes ESPN’s Bobby Marks, formerly a front office executive with the Brooklyn Nets. “The extension gives Houston the flexibility to retain Tari Eason, add in free agency, while also remaining under.”

The deadline for Eason’s rookie-scale extension is at 5:00 p.m. Central on Monday. Without an agreement, the LSU product would be slated for restricted free agency in 2026.

As for Durant, he is now under contract with the Rockets through the 2027-28 campaign, albeit with the final year on a player option. The deal kicks in after the 2025-26 season, which begins with Tuesday’s regular-season opener.

Charania elaborates:

Durant understood when he chose the Rockets as a trade destination that he would be sacrificing money on a new deal — in this case, around $30 million — so that the two sides could partner for the long term and give the franchise team-building flexibility.

Durant now holds the record for the highest career earnings in NBA history at $598.2 million based on current and future salaries, surpassing LeBron James ($583.9 million). Durant is earning $54.7 million this season and now has a total of three years and $144.7 million on his contract.

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Even entering his 19th NBA season, Durant continues to produce at an elite level, and his scoring efficiency in Houston’s perfect preseason slate remained very high.

Thus, to no surprise, the Rockets made it a priority to lock up Durant as a cornerstone player into what could be his third decade in the NBA.

Neither Jae’Sean Tate nor Dorian Finney-Smith played in the 2025-26 preseason for the Rockets, with both Houston forwards sidelined due to offseason ankle surgeries.

While neither issue is considered a long-term concern, Tate is slightly ahead of Finney-Smith in his recovery, and the hope is that Tate could be available when Houston’s regular-schedule begins at Oklahoma City on Tuesday night.

“Jae’Sean did all the contact stuff today,” head coach Ime Udoka told ClutchFans after Saturday’s team practice in Houston. “It was good to see him out there playing. He was a little winded, but he’ll get his legs back, eventually.”

“Dorian is a little bit behind and working his way back, but it’s good to see Jae’Sean out there, and hopefully he’s ready for opening night.”

The team has yet to disclose a projected timetable for Finney-Smith’s return, though he is doing some running drills and is a partial participant at practices.

Tate wasn’t cleared for contact work until after the preseason, so the hope is that Finney-Smith isn’t far behind. However, it won’t be in time for the regular season’s first week.

With Finney-Smith sidelined, Tari Eason and Josh Okogie would seem to be candidates for expanded roles in the interim.

It’s been a mixed bag for Rockets second-year guard Reed Sheppard, but Thursday night, his potential was on full display.

With several key players — Kevin Durant, Amen Thompson, Jabari Smith Jr., Alperen Sengun, Steven Adams, Clint Capela — sitting out, Reed Sheppard led the B-Team in Atlanta and feasted, hitting 12-22 shots for 29 points, including 5-13 from three-point range. He added 4 steals, 3 blocks, 6 assists and 6 rebounds.

Ben Dubose and I discussed the preseason, Reed’s strong showing, the clock running down on Tari Eason’s extension and the regular season opener this Tuesday in Oklahoma City.

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