Houston Rockets sign Clint Capela to $90M extension

July 27 (UPI) -- The Houston Rockets have agreed to a $90 million contract extension with free agent center Clint Capela.

Sources told ESPN and the Houston Chronicle that Capela's new pact is for five years. The 24-year-old big man averaged a career-best 13.9 points and 10.8 rebounds per game last season for the top regular-season team in the NBA. He also made a league-high 65.2 percent of his field goal attempts.

The 6-foot-10, 240 pound center is entering his fifth NBA season. Capela was the No. 25 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. He made $2.3 million last season with the Rockets.

"Obviously we love the game of basketball, but to be able to provide for your family for generations, that's what we do it for," Capela's Rockets teammate James Harden told reporters Friday in Las Vegas. "I've seen him work his butt off these last few years. He listens, learns, competes. I'm happy for him."

Capela finished second in the running for the NBA Most Improved player award this season.

The Rockets rewarded veteran point guard Chris Paul with a four-year, $160 million contract on July 1. Houston also re-signed swingman Gerald Green in early July on a one-year pact.

Harden -- the 2017-18 NBA MVP -- signed a multi-year contract in 2017 with the Rockets and will make more than $30 million in 2018. His salary shoots up to $43 million in 2021 and he had a player option of $46 million in 2022.