​HOUSTON, TEXAS – FEBRUARY 11: Jabari Smith Jr. #10 of the Houston Rockets, Alperen Sengun #28 and Kevin Durant #7 help Tari Eason #17 during the second half against the Los Angeles Clippers of the game at Toyota Center on February 11, 2026 in Houston, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jack Gorman/Getty Images)Getty ImagesWhile other teams around the NBA were busy making blockbuster moves this offseason, the Houston Rockets only made a pair of minor additions. They signed veteran guard Marcus Smart to a two-year, $12.4 million contract using the taxpayer mid-level exception (which hard-capped them at the second apron) and added veteran wing Bogdan Bogdanović on a one-year, veteran-minimum contract.The Rockets’ most notable move was signing restricted free agent Tari Eason to a five-year, $81.5 million contract. That was a continuation of a trend that might help extend the Rockets’ championship window.Since the NBA’s latest collective bargaining agreement went into effect in 2023, the Rockets have arguably been the league’s most shrewd team in contract negotiations. As other teams start to face financial reckonings in fear of the punitive second apron, the Rockets have locked up most of their core on team-friendly contracts. If they’re able to continue that trend moving forward, it could give them a clear advantage over their Western Conference counterparts who’ve been handing out max contracts without thinking twice.The Rockets’ Negotiating WinsThe Rockets put the league on notice when they agreed to extensions with 2021 No. 2 overall pick Jalen Green and No. 16 overall pick Alperen Şengün ahead of the rookie-scale extension deadline in October 2024.Şengün was coming off a season in which he averaged a career-high 21.1 points, 9.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists. Under the NBA’s previous CBA, he likely would have been a no-brainer max-contract player. Instead, he wound up settling for nearly $40 million less than what he could have received from the Rockets as a free agent. Meanwhile, Green agreed to a three-year, $105.3 million extension with a third-year player option. ESPN’s Shams Charania noted he was the first player “ever to successfully negotiate a 2-plus-1 rookie extension on a nine-figure deal” and that the player option gave Green “the ability to increase his earning potential down the road.” However, Green was the only top-four pick from the 2021 draft not to get a full five-year max deal even though he averaged nearly 20 points per game across his first three seasons.Why did the Rockets play hardball with both Şengün and Green when other teams were handing out massive contracts to 2021 first-round picks that offseason? They might have been concerned about Green’s dismal efficiency—he shot only 42.1% across his first three seasons—and Şengün’s defensive abilit