Rockets Reportedly Likely to Decline Fred VanVleet's $45M Option, Discuss New Contract
If the Houston Rockets keep Fred VanVleet going forward, it reportedly won't be on his 2025-26 contract option.
According to Kelly Iko of The Athletic, the Rockets are "likely to decline" VanVleet's $44.9 million team option but will "discuss a new multi-year extension in the coming days."
NBA reporter Marc Stein added that the "strong expectation" is that the Rockets and VanVleet will come to terms on an extension, though he later reported that "another source just told me that Houston is still weighing its options and has not ruled out exercising the team option. The Rockets have until Sunday to activate the option or bypass it to allow VanVleet to become an unrestricted free agent."
The actual terms of that deal remain to be seen, though it's likely that VanVleet will be receiving a much lower AAV than what he would make on his team option.
With basically every NBA team lacking the cap space to make a splash in free agency and the Rockets entering win-now mode after trading for Kevin Durant, a reunion makes sense for both sides.
VanVleet, 31, has been solid for Houston in two seasons, averaging 15.9 points, 6.9 assists and 1.5 steals while shooting 40 percent from the field and 36.9 percent from three. Durant and Alperen Şengün will lead the Rockets' offense, with either VanVleet or Amen Thompson serving as the third option (much will depend on whether Thompson can improve his perimeter shooting, though he made strides as a scorer in general during his sophomore campaign).
The Rockets went 52-30 last season and earned the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. However, the lack of a reliable No. 1 option on offense hurt them in the playoffs, where they were eliminated in the first round by the Golden State Warriors.
The addition of Durant should solve that issue, and Houston will have impressive depth behind him between its young talents (Şengün, Thompson, Jabari Smith Jr., Tari Eason, Cam Whitmore, Reed Sheppard) and its veteran supporting cast (VanVleet, Steven Adams, Aaron Holiday).
A starting 5 of VanVleet, Thompson, Durant, Şengün and Smith looks strong on both ends of the floor, at least on paper. Whether it's enough to best a team like Oklahoma City remains to be seen, but landing Durant and keeping VanVleet would certainly bridge the gap to some degree.
