2:43 pm: Danielle Lerner of the Houston Chronicle (subscription required) confirms that the Rockets will decline Holiday’s option and have tentative agreements in place to retain Holiday, Tate, and Green.
She adds that the team expects to have its full non-taxpayer mid-level exception available, which points toward Landale being waived before his $8MM salary becomes guaranteed, though that hasn’t been confirmed yet.
12:26 pm: The Rockets don’t intend to let guard Aaron Holiday, swingman Jae’Sean Tate, or forward Jeff Green walk in free agency, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link). Charania reports that Houston’s plan is to bring back all three players, re-signing them to new contracts.
While Tate and Green are headed for unrestricted free agency, the Rockets hold a team option on Holiday worth roughly $4.9MM. Charania’s report suggests Houston plans to turn down that option in order to bring back the 28-year-old on a new deal.
Holiday, Green, and Tate have all spent multiple seasons with the Rockets, but played fewer minutes in 2024/25 than they had in the past as the team’s young core continued to come into its own.
Holiday averaged 5.5 points and 1.3 assists in 12.8 minutes per game across 62 appearances, with a .437/.398/.829 shooting line; Tate logged a career-low 11.3 MPG in 52 games, contributing 3.6 PPG and 2.3 RPG; and Green put up 5.4 PPG and 1.8 RPG in 12.4 MPG across 32 outings (three starts).
Despite their modest roles, it seems as if Holiday, Tate, and Green still hold real appeal to the Rockets, though I wouldn’t be surprised if all three players return on minimum-salary contracts. Tate’s deal will be for one year, likely at the veteran’s minimum, confirms Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link).
As cap expert Yossi Gozlan tweets, bringing back the trio on minimum deals would allow Houston to hang onto Jock Landale‘s $8MM contract and stay out of tax territory. The big man’s salary is scheduled to become guaranteed if he remains under contract through Sunday.
If Landale is let go, the Rockets could use a chunk of the non-taxpayer mid-level exception without going into the tax.