James Harden signs four-year, $118m deal with Houston Rockets
Saturday 9 July 2016 21:55, UK
James Harden has signed a four-year, $118m contract extension with the Houston Rockets.
He was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent after the 2017/18 season.
Rockets owner Leslie Alexander made the surprise announcement at a news conference in Houston on Saturday, where the Rockets had planned to introduce the new free-agent signings of Ryan Anderson, Eric Gordon and Nene.
Harden had two years and $34.6m left on his existing deal. The renegotiation gives him nearly $10m and $11m raises on his salaries in 2016/17 and 2017/18. He will earn $30.4m in 2018/19 and $32.7m in 2019/20.
"We're building a new core with James here," Houston general manager Daryl Morey said at the news conference.
The move comes after a frustrating season for the Rockets, who were ousted by Golden State in the first round of the playoffs.
They fired Kevin McHale after a 4-7 start, and interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff went 37-34 the rest of the way.
A year ago, Houston reached the Western Conference Finals and Harden finished second in MVP voting.
