Nene OKs three-year deal
Previous contract not permissible under union rules
For the second time in three days, the Rockets reached a contract agreement with free-agent center Nene.
This one is expected to stick.
The Rockets and Nene agreed to a three-year deal worth $10.95 million, a person with knowledge of the deal said on the condition of anonymity because the agreement has not been announced.
Nene, 6-11, will sign as a non-Bird free agent, allowing the Rockets to use their mid-level exception on four-year contracts for P.J. Tucker and Zhou Qi.
The Rockets had come to terms on a four-year, $15 million contract Friday, but because Nene will be 38 in the final season of that deal, the contract was not permissible under the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement and had to be revised.
Nene averaged 9.1 points and 4.2 rebounds in just 17.9 minutes per game last season.
A key to the Rockets’ first-round playoff series win against the Thunder, Nene averaged 10 points in 17.9 minutes on 70.6 percent shooting in the playoffs before he was hurt in Game 4 against the San Antonio Spurs, missing the remainder of the series.
Had Nene, 34, not agreed to sign the deal offered, the most allowable as a non-Bird free agent, the Rockets’ alternative would have been to use some of their mid-level exception, already earmarked for Tucker and Zhou.
Barring changes in that plan, they can continue to add to the roster using their bi-annual exception, worth $3.4 million, and seek to reach a sign-andtrade arrangement using their collection of players with non-guaranteed contracts.