Officially signed, Rockets bid farewell to the NBA, 2 million in 2 years, you have completely understood the rules

As the future ownership of many free agents has new dynamics, it is like ripples appearing on the calm lake. Among them, former Houston Rockets player Jack McVeigh made an important career choice. He joined the National Basketball League (NBL) Keynes Vipers on a two-year contract worth $2 million. The terms of this contract show that the second year is a common option. Reading it right is indeed a common option. This design is not uncommon in professional sports contracts, and it gives both players and teams a certain degree of flexibility.

For McVeigh, if he performed well in the first year, he had the opportunity to stay with the Cairns Vipers to further prove his worth in the Australian League; for Vipers, if McVeigh failed to meet the team's expectations, they also had the right to opt out of executing the contract for the second year. It is worth mentioning that this new contract has created the history of the team, and McVeigh’s contract has become the most expensive in the history of the team. This not only reflects the Vipers' high attention and expectations for him, but also indirectly reflects McVeigh's strength and potential in the field of basketball. McVeigh, 29, plays as a forward on the basketball court. Among them, in the 2024-2025 season, McVeigh played 9 regular season games for the Rockets, with averaging only 4.8 minutes of playing time. In such limited playing time, he averaged 1.6 points per game. Although the data is not very impressive, considering the limitations of playing time, we cannot completely measure his strength with these data. In sharp contrast to his limited performance in the NBA, McVeigh has shown strong strength in the G League. In the 34 games played in the G League, he averaged 30.7 minutes of playing time, averaging 16.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game.

These data show that McVeigh can play an important role in the game after gaining enough playing time and ball rights. His scoring, rebounding and organizational skills are fully reflected. Based on this performance, he also successfully impressed the Atlanta Hawks management and played in the summer league held in Las Vegas. Although his performance was remarkable in the game, he still left a strong score, with his three-point shooting percentage reaching 45.5%. This data fully demonstrates his outstanding ability in long-range shooting. Looking at the current league, a player with stable three-point shooting ability can often open up space for the team and create more offensive opportunities.

Next, McVeigh will bring his projection talent to Australia, but he still made a decision to return to the NBA. The Tasmanian Ants, who once played for, voluntarily gave up their priority over McVay, which allowed him to sign contracts with other NBL teams freely, and laid the groundwork for the subsequent common options. In addition, McVay is still retained to actively seek opportunities to stay in the NBA. So far, the Houston Rockets have assembled a 14-man roster, plus three two-way players, and the remaining standard contract will not be rushing to make a conclusion, but will wait until the middle of the season, focusing on strengthening depending on the team's situation. Therefore, McVeigh only needs to do his own job, and returning to the NBA is not difficult.