On Wednesday, the shocking news of Fred VanVleet suffering an ACL tear just weeks before the 2025/26 season came to light. Now, the Rockets, who were once looking near-invincible with their lineup thanks to the addition of Kevin Durant in the summer, may need another star to step in and add that something special.
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According to ESPN’s preseason predictions, the Rockets were the second-leading favorite to come out of the Western Conference before VanVleet’s injury. Now, they’ve dropped down to third, behind Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets. That’s how much VanVleet, who brought a veteran presence to the locker room with his championship experience, meant to the team.
VanVleet was also tied for third in scoring and led the team in assists per game. Now, all of a sudden, their leading assist maker and third-highest scorer from the 2024/25 season is out, and Houston is stuck with a backcourt featuring either Reed Sheppard or Aaron Holiday.
When former NBA veteran Ryan Hollins heard about VanVleet’s injury, he reflected on the guard’s championship pedigree, noting how tough it’s going to be for Houston to move forward without him for the foreseeable future.
“He’s a world champ, and he’s tough. When you don’t have your floor general out there, you have to rely now upon other things,” Hollins said on SiriusXM NBA Radio.
The Rockets will now need to rely even more on the newly acquired Durant. The future Hall of Famer should be able to shoulder the load. However, he’s turning 37 soon, so it’s only a matter of time before he slows down as well. Durant hasn’t played in a full season in over 10 years. Who knows what the team will do then?
“When you don’t have your floor general out there, you now have to rely on other things.”
Rockets TV Analyst @TheRyanHollins joined NBA Today to react to the news of Fred VanVleet tearing his ACL@Jumpshot8 | @DarthAmin pic.twitter.com/tobPz6MtlT
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) September 23, 2025
Hollins believes that it’s going to mostly be on Ime Udoka to make the adjustments accordingly. “For Ime, the adjustments are going to be more defensive-minded. Hit the offensive glass, you’re not going to be able to run at the same pace,” he said.
There certainly will be an expectation for Udoka to uphold a certain standard in Houston. He’s a winning coach who has already been to an NBA Finals in his young career. He also improved the Rockets from 41 wins to 52 between his first and second seasons. The front office envisioned this as the year to push some chips in with him at the helm, and they are expecting results.
But now, an essential veteran presence in VanVleet is gone, and Hollins thinks that the Rockets could suffer intangibly.
“Before Fred, this was a group that led the league in turnovers in the bad way. When Fred came, that very next year, they led the league in assist-to-turnover ratio. So, those are the intangibles that Fred brings to the table.”
It’s going to be tough for Houston to overcome the challenge. They’re probably still happy that they acquired Durant, yet it would be nice to have another quality starting guard like Jalen Green to call upon. But he’s in Phoenix now.
At the end of the day, the Rockets might need to get creative to find a replacement for VanVleet. Maybe Sheppard will have what it takes and step up as a former No. 3 overall pick, but that’s a big bet to bank on. With this in mind, Russell Westbrook and Gary Payton II are still available on the free-agent market.
Nevertheless, as much fun as it would be to reunite Durant and Westbrook, it would be a temporary band-aid at best. A trade is probably the best route to land the right option to replace VanVleet, but that means the Rockets might need to get uncomfortable and give up even more future assets. That would put even more pressure on this version of the team to make a title run. Proceed with caution, Houston.
