Fred VanVleet Restructure: Houston, We Have A Payroll Problem

53-29 Knicks is beating the Spurs in the Finals.

52-30 Rockets GM Stone had already gave up the season before trade deadline.

 

Stone keeps working his magic of DESTROYING the Rockets

 

The Rockets are not an outlier - they just decided to target players that are old and either have a lot of wear and tear or histories of injuries.

Embiid, AD and Kawhi all are injury prone. A team that decides to take them on has to deal with it.

 

And so..... you think they selected all these players because they thought they were the best option? Or were they thought best option to keep cap flexibility and not getting any cap penalties while trying to build out a roster around a super young core?

Kinda like FVV missing 20/30 games vs missing an entire season.... Makes a bit of difference.

And again.... FVV blowing out ACL in the offseason was not an indication of high mileage or injury prone, but just bad luck.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/73...fseason-free-agency-2026-player-team-options/

Fred VanVleet, PG, Houston (PO, $25,000,000)

It’s hard to put a value on VanVleet after he missed last season with a torn ACL. On the other hand, it’s easy to put a value on his meaning to the Rockets, after their point guard-less squad meandered aimlessly through possession after possession last season. Keeping him is likely a priority; BORD$ values the 32-year-old at $17.5 million, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Houston go higher to lock up his services as both a floor general and leader. For instance, three years at $70 million would give the Rockets a few million extra in wiggle room to fight the apron this year while still securing future dollars for VanVleet.

Prediction: Opts out and re-signs

 

@No Worries Prediction: Opts out and is set free ... free as a bird and this bird you cannot change ...

ETA:
Why in the world would any team sign FVV to anything more than a one year, show-me contract? If FVV has lost a step after his ACL injury, he realistically is out of the NBA.

 

I would literally lose my mind. I almost want us to trade for Kyrie, just so Stone can’t extend Fred. This is insanity.

 

What in the goatfück is this guy talking about at 23.3 mill per over the next 3 years

There was nobody else willing to pay Fred 3/130

There was nobody able to or willing to pay Fred over the MLE last off-season when we gave him 2/50 for no reason

Now we're going to re-sign him at a .... 1.7 million dollar discount at 32 years old after he blew out his ACL

We've been overpaying the **** out of him, at what point do we stop paying 1.5 what he's worth? Can we just have him for market value??


2/40 or 3/55 should be a TERRIFIC offer, gets his full 25 million and his market value MLE 15 million after that. That with us getting NO good-will, thanks for overpaying me for so many years,, thanks for giving me 25 mill to rehab, love this city/team/coach discount, which would be great.

 

We have to unload the $1 billion dollars in contracts of Ime, Jabari, KD and FVV. We are a rebuilding team for the long run.

 

Jabari is a bargain, buy you are right about the rest of them.

 

These are the kind of rumors that drive CF crazy, because we see the REAL Fred, not the Adonis/Marcus Aurelius combo that Stone/Udoka worship. FVV has value as a vet leader who comes off the bench and contributes 20-25 mins a night. Pay him like that for next 2-years and maybe we won't b**** and moan, and he can stay a bit longer. Anything above $15-$16M seems like an overpay.

 

Anything is an overpay with Ime as coach. Without Ime, you could justify 15m as a backup.

 

True, Ime will start and play him 37-39 mins as soon as he's able.

 

The reason you extend FVV is multi layered -

1 You don't have a competent point guard - period. Fred can at least be that.
2 you lower his cap hit.
3 you preserve the salary slot Above The Cap, worth 125% of Fred's actual salary.
4 you create a tradable asset.

 

how bout we find out if he can still play basketball at a high level before we give him more money he hasnt earned? I know, I know…radical thinking.

 

GROSS