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The Houston Rockets realized the value of Fred VanVleet, which is why they re-signed the guard to a two-year, $50 million contract this summer. It also shows just what kind of blow this latest news is for a team with championship aspirations.
VanVleet suffered a torn ACL at an unofficial team workout in the Bahamas and could miss the entire upcoming NBA season, a story broken by Shams Charania of ESPN and since confirmed by others. This was a contact injury, and VanVleet has returned to Houston, where he is expected to have surgery later this week.
On a roster stacked with talent on the wings and in the frontcourt — Kevin Durant, Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson, Jabari Smith Jr. and more — VanVleet was the glue at an otherwise thin point guard spot that held everything together. VanVleet averaged 14.1 points and 5.6 assists last season, and is a plus defender. Last season, the Rockets were 3.3 points per 100 possessions better when VanVleet was on the court. VanVleet’s value really stood out in the playoffs, when he averaged 18.7 points, 4.4 assists and 4.1 rebounds a game and the Rockets were 21 points per 100 possessions better when he was on the court in their series loss to the Warriors.
VanVleet’s injury puts a lot of pressure on second-year guard Reed Sheppard, who was being asked to make a big step up to the backup point guard role this season and now will have more on his plate. Behind him is veteran Aaron Holiday.
This is a potentially serious blow to the Rockets’ title hopes, especially in a deep West where Oklahoma City brings back 14 players from the team that just won the title, and the Denver Nuggets have stacked the roster around Nikola Jokic (that’s not even mentioning Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves or the LeBron James and Luka Doncic tandem in Los Angeles).