Fred VanVleet's $130M Max Contract with Rockets Stuns NBA Twitter

The Houston Rockets landed arguably the first major surprise of the 2023 NBA offseason.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported they agreed to a three-year, $130 million contract with point guard Fred VanVleet on Friday. VanVleet has never played for an NBA team outside of the Toronto Raptors but will now attempt to lead the Rockets back into contention.

The deal inspired a variety of reactions on social media with many praising the undrafted free agent for landing such a contract and others rather shocked at how much money the Rockets are paying him:

There is plenty to like about VanVleet's game, especially at 29 years old and presumably in the middle of his prime.

He averaged 19.3 points, 7.2 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game last season as someone who was a go-to option for Toronto and relied upon to set up others in position to score. While his efficiency is a concern after he shot 39.3 percent from the field last season, he did connect on a solid but unspectacular 34.2 percent of his triples.

The 2019 champion is a playoff-tested veteran who comes to a Rockets team that has been in rebuilding mode of late.

However, Houston had plenty of cap space this offseason and clearly was looking to improve its standing in the Western Conference. Perhaps with another addition or two alongside VanVleet, it can be a threat to make a playoff run.