Why the Houston Rockets Should Keep Fred VanVleet and Redo His Deal

Why the Houston Rockets should bring Fred VanVleet but on a longer deal at less money.

May 2, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; Houston Rockets guard Fred VanVleet (5) reacts after making a three-point basket against the Golden State Warriors in the fourth quarter of game six of the first round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images | Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

When the Houston Rockets were ready to move on from three seasons of rebuilding, they first signed Ime Udoka to take over the franchise and change the Rockets' reputation from the bench, and they also knew they needed to bring in more veteran leadership on the court.

The Rockets set out to do that in the summer of 2023 free agency, and they did just that by signing veteran small forward Dillon Brooks and former All-Star and NBA Champion Fred VanVleet. The Rockets signed VanVleet to a three-year max deal with the third year being a team option.

That potential third season has arrived, and now the Rockets and VanVleet must decide before the end of the month. Both sides decided to extend that decision a few weeks ago, as VanVleet is due to make over $40 million next season if the Rockets pick up the third-year team option.

VanVleet, from the first day of training camp, took over as the team's on and off-court leader. Younger players followed his lead, and Udoka saw him almost as a second coach on the floor. VanVleet rewarded the front office's confidence in him by having the best passing season of his career as he finished with a career-high in assists and helped the Rockets have their best assist season in franchise history.

VanVleet and Brooks helped the Rockets improve by a league-best 19 games, and even though VanVleet took a step back this season, he helped guide the Rockets to their best season in the last five years. The Rockets also made their first playoff appearance since 2020.

VanVleet and the Rockets have made it public that both parties would love to work out a new deal that would extend VanVleet's contract to possibly three seasons at a significantly lower annual amount. Even though VanVleet's statistics dropped across the board in 2024-25, he still provided on-court leadership, and perhaps just as important, locker-room leadership, that the Rockets need.

VanVleet's worth to the Rockets is hard to quantify in numbers. When VanVleet is not on the court, the Rockets' offense suffers because they have a hard time getting into their offense. Also, VanVleet is still one of the Rockets' better outside shooters.

That is not to say that the Rockets don't need to bring in another point guard. The Rockets have had to rely heavily on VanVleet as they didn't have a viable backup point guard. Whatever the Rockets do this offseason, they will need to bring in a backup point guard to take some of the pressure off VanVleet.

VanVleet has his flaws, but ultimately, he still is one of the keys to the Rockets' success as they look to take the next step next season from a good team to a championship contender.