James Harden is eligible to sign a Designated Player Veteran Extension this summer. (AP)

The Vertical Front-Office Insider Bobby Marks, a former 20-year executive with the Nets, looks at the possible offseason plans and roster details for every team in the league.

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HOUSTON ROCKETS

Offseason focus

The James Harden contract

For a second consecutive summer, Houston has the opportunity to reward James Harden with a new contract.

Achieving All-NBA criteria this season makes Harden eligible for the Designated Player Veteran Extension.

While the Rockets cannot renegotiate his current contract like they did last summer, Houston can add an additional four years to the back end of his current deal.

The additional four years would be worth $168 million, starting with a $37.5 million salary in 2019-20.

However, there isn’t a great deal of urgency when it comes to a possible extension.

Unlike Russell Westbrook, who is set to enter the last year of his contract, Harden is under contract for two more seasons.

The extension does represent long-term security for Harden, but unlike his contract renegotiation last summer to reflect a max salary, a new extension does not give him an added benefit financially.

By July 2019, Harden will have reached 10 years of service and be eligible to sign a max contract for 35 percent of the salary cap – the same amount he would get if he were to sign an extension this summer.

Cap space vs. exceptions

The Rockets have an interesting decision to make when it comes to creating cap space.

Because the Rockets sit $4 million below the salary cap, Houston has the $8.4 million mid-level exception and $3.2 million bi-annual exception to use.

If the Rockets fall far enough below the cap, the mid-level and bi-annual exceptions will be lost and Houston will be relegated to the $4.1 million room mid-level along with the cap space created.

Though the exceptions appear to be minimal compared to cap space, Houston has shown an ability to use exceptions to get under-the-radar free agents. Houston got Nene with the bi-annual last summer.

View photos Patrick Beverley is also eligible for an extension this summer. (AP) More

The extension candidates

The rule change in the new CBA that focuses on veteran extensions could have an impact on the Rockets.

Starters Patrick Beverley, Trevor Ariza and Clint Capela and reserves Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell are eligible to sign extensions this summer.

Under the 2011 CBA, only Ariza and Capela would have been eligible.

Beverley and Williams are now eligible because players who signed contracts for more than three or four years can now be extended after the second anniversary of the contract.

Under the 2011 CBA, only players who signed four- or five-year contracts could be extended and only after the third anniversary of when the contract was signed.

Beverley is now eligible to sign a three-year, $31 million extension that would start in 2019-20.

The first-year salary of $8.8 million would represent a significant pay increase for a player who ranked 34th among point guards in 2016-17.

Williams, entering the final season of a three-year contract, can sign a four-year, $39 million extension.

Capela, entering the fourth year of his rookie extension, can be extended for a total of four years and up to 25 percent of the 2018-19 salary cap.

However, because Capela has a $7 million cap hold in 2018, Houston would be best off waiting to re-sign him unless an extension allows them to retain flexibility.

Summer cap breakdown

Guaranteed 2017-18 Insider info

James Harden $28,299,399 Designated extension eligible

Ryan Anderson $19,578,455

Eric Gordon $12,943,020

Trevor Ariza $7,420,912 Extension eligible

Lou Williams $7,000,000 Extension eligible

Patrick Beverley $5,513,514 Extension eligible

Sam Dekker $1,794,600

Clint Capela $2,334,528 Rookie extension eligible

Montrezl Harrell $1,471,382 Extension eligible

Chinanu Onuaku $1,312,611

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