Rockets' Jae'Sean Tate: Option picked up by club

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The Rockets exercised Tate's (ankle) $7.57 million team option for 2024-25 on Saturday, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports.

Houston's decision to retain Tate is somewhat surprising given that he looked to be a fringe rotation player toward the end of the 2023-24 season before he was shut down in April with a right ankle sprain. However, the 28-year-old brings value in his ability to defend multiple positions and is comfortable taking on a lower-usage role, which makes him an ideal fit next to higher-priority offensive options such as Fred VanVleet, Jalen Green, Jabari Smith and Alperen Sengun. He should be fully recovered from the ankle sprain well in advance of training camp -- if he's not healthy already -- and depending on what the complexion of the Houston roster looks like in the aftermath of the offseason, Tate could resurface as a more consistent part of head coach Ime Udoka's rotation.