For reasons primarily related it’s unclear what type of contract extensions the have offered or will offer to Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun this offseason.

But that doesn’t mean that deals can’t or won’t get done before the extension deadline of Monday, Oct. 21, for first-round picks from the 2021 NBA draft. If a deal isn’t done by that date, talks will be tabled until the 2025 offseason, when both could become restricted free agents.

ESPN’s Bobby Marks, now a front office insider and formerly an executive with the Brooklyn Nets,  offers to all extension eligible players who haven’t yet signed one.

Because of the flexibility that Houston could otherwise have with its 2025 salary books, to offer a true max extension to either player. His proposed offer to Green is five years, $145 million, and his proposal for Sengun is five years at $172.5 million.

The idea seems to be that if Houston gets something of a discount relative to a max contract, then it could be worth it to extend one or both — even if it cuts into the 2025 flexibility (which it clearly would in the case of Sengun, who is slated to have a much lower than his projected 2025-26 salary). By getting a sub-max rate, that could make it easier for the Rockets to retain other members of their current young core in the years ahead.

But if Green and/or Sengun are demanding a max deal and unwilling to negotiate at a lower price point, then there’s not much incentive for the Rockets to finalize it early. The first season on an extended contract would be 2025-26, regardless of whether it is signed in the coming days or next offseason.

Time will soon tell as to which path the Rockets, Green, and Sengun take, since the deadline arrives on the afternoon of Monday, Oct. 21. A max contract would be in the ballpark of five years for $225 million in total, so Marks’ proposals came in a good bit below in both cases.