The 2026 free agent class was loaded with talented restricted free agents. Among that group was Houston Rockets forward Tari Eason, who is officially returning to his team after inking a new deal. The price of the fresh five-year extension reported by Shams Charania is an absolute bargain.
"Restricted free agent Tari Eason has agreed to a five-year, $81.5 million deal to return to the Houston Rockets, sources tell ESPN. The deal is fully guaranteed for Eason."
That puts Eason around an average salary of only $16.3 million per year. That is awfully cheap for the type of forward that the Los Angeles Lakers would love to have right about now.
Eason is athletic, lengthy, and active on the defensive end. The Rockets forward is also capable of getting to the basket consistently and even shot a respectable 35.8 percent from beyond the arc in 2025-26 (even if that shot did disappear for a while throughout the season). Getting all of that for the low price that Houston secured should sting for any team in need of a forward like Tari.
Tari Eason's bargain contract with the Rockets puts Lakers to shame
The Lakers' big play with relation to restricted free agents was their sign-and-trade to acquire Walker Kessler. Fair enough. Los Angeles prioritized locking down their center of the future beside Luka Doncic. That is as important of a position as any moving forward.
There is certainly no real argument that would adequately defend the Lakers prioritizing Eason over Kessler. The thought is more so: Why not Tari and Walker?
Eason should have stood out as a potential target from the moment he failed to agree on a rookie-scale extension with the Rockets. There was a clear discrepancy in what both sides thought the athletic forward was worth.
Charania even alluded to this when he mentioned this current deal offered Eason more guaranteed money than that of what was being offered during previous negotiations. The final contract both sides agreed to has Tari's end of the equation looking like the clear party that is settling.
Was there no path to be aggressive and pursue both Kessler and Eason as sign-and-trade targets? Would a slightly stingier negotiation with Danny Ainge have cost the Lakers their center? If the answer to that is yes, it is easier to stomach the Tari miss.
Even so, was there no real path for the Lakers to negotiate an Eason trade during this 2025-26 season either? Were all potential avenues exhausted?
There will be no true answer to those questions, causing a feeling of acceptance to be the only option, to some degree. However, it does not mean that acceptance is without an inkling of regret sprinkled in.
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