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Fred VanVleet and the Houston Rockets “have mutual interest” in an extension, according to NBA insider Jake Fischer.
Both team and player are “motivated” to keep VanVleet in Houston beyond his $44.9 million club option for the 2025-26 season, according to Fischer.
“The Rockets will have the chance to decline VanVleet’s option and rework a multi-year deal this summer,” Fischer wrote.
Houston signed VanVleet ahead of the 2023-24 season. The point guard has started all 116 games he has played for the franchise so far.
Reworking the deal could allow the Rockets to work out something to pay VanVleet a lower annual salary over a longer period of time.
VanVleet, who is currently earning about as much per year as Dallas Mavericks star Luka Dončić, is likely making above market value for his offensive production level. The veteran guard is averaging 14.9 points, 4.0 rebounds and 5.9 assists while recording 1.7 steals per game.
That’s not to say his initial signing wasn’t worth it for the Rockets. Coach Ime Udoka was charged with rebuilding the Rockets’ identity in 2023 following three straight seasons with a win percentage below .275.
The Rockets went on to orchestrate one of the quickest turnarounds in the NBA by finishing Udoka’s first campaign at the helm with a .500 win percentage.
Udoka said in December that was in part because of the way VanVleet and fellow veteran Dillon Brooks helped shape the Rockets’ new “defensive mentality,” per ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.
“We can only say so much and teach so much and try to scheme around guys so much,” Udoka said, per MacMahon. “But to have guys out there that do it on a nightly basis that have carved out their niche in the league with toughness and that edge, that defensive mentality, it was invaluable for our team. We needed it.”
MacMahon went on to write that VanVleet is considered “an extension of the coaching staff on the court and in the locker room.”
For a team led by young stars including Amen Thompson, Jalen Green, Alperen Şengün and Jabari Smith Jr., that kind of veteran presence could be key as the Rockets find themselves on track to potentially make the playoffs for the first time in five seasons.
VanVleet, who will turn 31 in February, spent the first seven seasons of his NBA career with the Toronto Raptors. He helped the franchise win its first championship in 2019 before arriving in Houston to help Udoka rebuild the Rockets.
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