On the surface, the Rockets players are a mixed group, whether it is Porter Jr., Jaylen Green or Shin Kyung, Christopher and other newcomers, it seems that they are very united on the court and off the court, but in fact, the players on a team, regardless of their respective positions, they are the key to competition. Especially in the NBA environment, every young player has to fight for his position and playing time.
Individual performance and data are also related to whether they can sign a big contract in the future, so the only goal of these players is to show their strength in the game, play a first-class performance, prove themselves, and ask for a bigger contract when they renew their contracts or look for the next owner. The Rockets players are no exception, it seems that these players are "good brothers", but in fact these players are secretly competing.
We know that Porter Jr.'s contract is still 1 year away, next season is the 2022-2023 season is the Rockets' team option, under normal circumstances, the Rockets will execute Porter Jr.'s rookie contract for the last year, but next summer, will Porter Jr. stay with the Rockets?
Porter Jr. is definitely willing to stay in the team with a big contract, but is the Rockets management who is quite "cutting the door" in everyone's eyes willing to send a big contract to Porter Jr.? Porter Jr.'s performance this season has not been particularly good, and although the data in recent games is not ugly, he still lacks talent compared to Green. In the No. 1 position, Porter Jr., the Rockets' starting point guard, did not succeed in stringing together the entire team.
In the previous game when the Rockets lost to the Timberwolves, Porter Jr. made eight turnovers in a single game, completely covering up his 21 points, 8 assists and 6 rebounds. With such an unstable and eccentric first inning, would the Rockets really be willing to renew his contract? Obviously, rocket management will also consider it.
Famous Kelly Ike said that this summer, the Rockets can renew a five-year, $184 million contract with Porter Jr. But now the Rockets' Christopher super rise, and in the game against the Timberwolves bombed a career-high 30 points, and considering Christopher's performance in the point guard position is also good, similar to the Rockets can play both point guard and point guard Harden style, then if Christopher is the future of the Rockets as the main controller of the Rockets, is it better than Porter Jr.?
Christopher's rise gave Little Potter unlimited pressure. First, TOEFL can also make a cameo point guard, and second, in this season's game, TOEFL's performance as a point guard is not bad, and his assist data is not ugly. In the Rockets team where newcomers are secretly competing, TOEFL's 30 points can be seen as a "call" to Porter Jr. - the first control position of the future Rockets is not Porter Jr.'s pocket!
The Rockets are also happy to see such a scene, if Porter Jr. dares to ask for a big contract, the Rockets can directly send him away next season and help the TOEFL. The 20-year-old Christopher took on the point guard to partner Jaylen Green, and the effect is not necessarily worse than Porter Jr. + Green. Therefore, Christopher may be the "Plan B" on the Rockets' No. 1 position. Porter Jr. wants to stay on the team unless he plays an All-Star next season, or he will stop asking for a big contract and stay on a contract with an annual salary of 12-15 million yuan, and the Rockets will not refuse.