Rockets, Kevin Porter Jr. Agree to 4-Year, $82.5M Contract Extension

Kevin Porter Jr. agreed to a four-year contract extension.

Porter's agent gave details of the extension to the reporter. There is a unique structure that allows for significant upside for Porter Jr. and protects the Houston Astros.

The first season of the contract guarantees only $15.9 million, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium. The next three years are not guaranteed.

Porter's deal is the first of its kind in recent history. Failure-safes are mostly done in case of a player being injury-prone.

The structure of Porter's deal is based on the fact that the Rockets don't know if they can trust him. He arrived in Houston with a reputation of being a malcontent.

Porter was almost kicked off the team at USC because of his conduct. The then-Cavalier was accused of punching a woman in the face during a fight in Cleveland, but he was never charged with a crime. He was charged with felony gun and marijuana possession in Ohio after police found marijuana and a loaded gun in his car when responding to a crash.

The team moved Porter's locker and caused him to throw food at them. Porter was suspended for one game last season after he left a game against the Denver Nuggets at halftime and got into an altercation with an assistant coach.

The laundry list of off-court concerns left the Rockets too leery to give Porter a fully guaranteed extension, but his talent is too good for them to let him hit restricted free agency.

Porter shot a career-high 38 percent from three-point range last season. The 22-year-old guard and the 20-year-old guard have all the makings of a young backcourt if the former can keep working on his basketball skills.

He now has so many reasons to stay on the straight and narrow. If Porter ascends, the Rockets will either sign the best contract in basketball or cut bait on a low-risk/high-reward bet.