Trevor Ariza signed with Rockets because of taxes?

When NBA free agency broke this past summer both Trevor Ariza and the Washington Wizards appeared to have mutual interest in agreeing on a new contract, but such didn’t happen and Ariza eventually signed with the Houston Rockets.

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Both the Washington Wizards and Houston Rockets offered Trevor Ariza a four-year, $32 million dollar contract so why was the forward motivated to leave the Wizards, especially given their emergence in the Eastern Conference? It couldn’t have been the contract, or was it?

Unlike Maryland, Texas doesn’t have any state income tax. That proved to be a swinging point for Trevor Ariza when the Houston Rockets called.

Asked if the extra cash flow played a part in the decision, Ariza confirmed such.

“It’s a big difference,” Ariza said, voice raising. “I don’t really want to get into that part of it. I’m here in Houston. I’m happy to be here. I can’t complain about anything that happened to me. It was extremely tough to leave Washington,” Ariza continued. “Especially with the chemistry that we built, players getting better over there. My family and the players, our families became really close. That was tough, I ain’t going to lie.”

In the end Trevor Ariza leaving the Washington Wizards may prove to be a best case scenario for all involved. The Houston Rockets were able to sign a key player after whiffing on Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh while the Washington Wizards didn’t commit long-term to Ariza, rather opting to sign Paul Pierce for two seasons.

That decision should allow the Washington Wizards to be in position to sign Kevin Durant, assuming he becomes a free agent in 2016.

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Trevor Ariza signed with Houston Rockets partly due to taxes?

By Bryan Rose | Oct 7, 2014

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