LAS VEGAS -- First-year owner Tilman Fertitta adamantly stated that the NBA's luxury tax is not influencing the Houston Rockets' offseason decisions.
Re-signing point guard Chris Paul to a four-year, $160 million maximum contract virtually guaranteed that the Rockets would pay luxury tax this season. Houston allowed two other key contributors to leave in free agency instead of making competitive bids to keep Trevor Ariza (one year, $15 million from the Phoenix Suns) or Luc Mbah a Moute (one year, $4.3 million from the LA Clippers).