Fred VanVleet Has no Regrets About Joining Houston Rockets

The Houston Rockets fell short of making the NBA Postseason during the 2023-24 season despite acquiring veteran help. Fred VanVleet has no regrets about joining with the upstart Rockets.

The Houston Rockets (41-41) fell just shy of their postseason goal despite making a 19-win improvement with the growth of young players and the addition of veteran help. One of the key acquisitions during the 2023 offseason was NBA Champion point guard Fred VanVleet.

The Rockets looked to VanVleet to bring stability to the roster, set the table for the youngsters and be an extension of first-year head coach Ime Udoka on the floor. The former Raptor checked all of those boxes and then some.

In his exit interview following the 2023-24 NBA regular season, VanVleet explained what made for a smooth transition working alongside Udoka.

“Talking to coach [Udoka], brainstorming, and putting our minds together on what we wanted this thing to be and what we wanted it to look like, I just felt empowered and honored that I was the guy who was thought of to help lead this ship in the right direction," VanVleet said.

While VanVleet acknowledges the Rockets fell short of their goal this season he did discuss the impressive feats Houston was able to pull off transforming this once 22-win team into a .500 club.

“We had the playoffs in our sight, and we fell short of that, but we made tremendous progress,” he said. “Especially if you are going to go back to where things were the past few years. To be able to come and turn this thing around or get it going in the right direction, it has been a great accomplishment so far, but not where we want to be."

After posting 17.4 points, a career-best 8.1 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 2.2 stocks per game, the one-time All-Star is primed to help push this Rockets team into the postseason in the 2024-25 campaign.