Season 7 in H-Town! Rockets Officially Re-Sign Tate: Durant Leads a 15+2 Roster Aiming for the Title

On July 24, Beijing time, the Houston Rockets officially announced today that they have re-signed forward Jae'Sean Tate. Tate first joined the Rockets as an undrafted free agent on November 25, 2020. He is the longest-serving player currently on the team.

Last season, Tate played in 46 games, posting averages of 2.8 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 0.5 assists per game, and per 36 minutes he contributed 11.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 2.2 assists. He shot a career-high 51.4% from the field and committed only 16 turnovers over 405 total minutes of action.

Tate is about to begin his seventh season with the Rockets. Only 15 players in franchise history have played at least seven seasons for the team, with current player Clint Capela among them. Among all undrafted players in Rockets history, Tate ranks third in games played with 342, trailing only Matt Bullard (538) and Chuck Hayes (426). Moses Malone, who entered the league via the ABA dispersal draft rather than the NBA draft, is not included in this statistic.

After finishing his senior season at Ohio State in 2017-18, Tate went overseas to play in Belgium and the Australian league. He made his NBA debut in the 2020-21 season, becoming the first Rockets player to be named to the All-Rookie First Team since Luis Scola in 2007-08.

With the official announcement of Tate's return, the Rockets' current roster consists of 15 players on standard contracts and 2 on two-way deals, with one two-way slot still open. The full roster is as follows —

Standard Contracts (15): Durant, Sengun, VanVleet, Jabari Smith Jr., Eason, Adams, Amen Thompson, Sheppard, Capela, Smart, Davidson, Bogdan, Tate, Thornton, Isaiah Crawford

Two-Way Contracts (2): Newton, Copeland

Can Durant lead this 15+2 roster to an NBA championship? Let's wait and see.