Why Fred VanVleet is worth $130 million
The Rockets knew who they wanted and went to great, very expensive lengths, to get him.
They made Raptors All-Star guard Fred VanVleet their top free agent priority and landed him with a three-year, $130 million contract, the richest deal ever given to a player that was undrafted.
The Rockets were so convinced that VanVleet would be the right choice for them, with skills and style to mesh with the young talent they had collected while saving the most cap room in the NBA, they opted against trying to bring back James Harden, the best guard in franchise history, to instead chase one of the most coveted guards in the free agent market of 2023.
Their hope is that VanVleet, with dogged defensive strengths on the ball and ability to play as a point or off the ball, will fill the void left when Harden forced his way out at the start of the 2021-22 season, triggering the Rockets’ rebuilding. They were so convinced that VanVleet’s steady, polished play would elevate those around him, they made him the first player to agree to a max contract this summer.
With VanVleet, who opted out of the final season of his contract worth $22.8 million to become a free agent, the Rockets add a top range shooter to a team that ranked last in 3-point shooting percentage last season, and a disruptive defensive guard on the ball to a team ranked 29th defensively.
VanVleet has made 37.3 percent of his 3-pointers in seven NBA seasons. Even last season, when he struggled early in the season with his mid-range game and slipped a bit in range shooting, he made 44 percent of his open catch-and-shoot 3s.
With the Rockets’ stockpile of athletic ballhandlers, including Jalen Green and last month’s additions of Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore in the draft, VanVleet’s shooting can help with spacing. But more immediately, VanVleet can both initiate offense as a playmaker — he averaged a career-high 7.2 assists last season — and finish possessions as a shooter as his young teammates develop into threats off the dribble. He averaged two turnovers while playing 36.7 minutes per game with decision-making that should help the team that led the NBA in turnovers the past three seasons.
He led the NBA in deflections per game and was tied for second in steals last season. VanVleet also excels at getting over screens, among the most conspicuous of Rockets shortcomings defensively last season.
At just 6-0, he does not offer the switching ability defensively that Rockets coach Ime Udoka used extensively with the Celtics.
VanVleet, 29, was part of the Raptors’ 2019 NBA championship team, scoring 22 points with seven 3-pointers, and matching up against Stephen Curry in a box-and-one defense in the series-clinching win. He was second, behind Kawhi Leonard, in the Finals MVP voting, though that was with one vote that he received from Hubie Brown. The title run came two seasons after he was a key to the Raptors 905 G League championship.
An All-Star in 2022, VanVleet was undrafted out of Wichita State in 2016 after a career in which he helped the Shockers to a Final Four run in 2013 and an undefeated regular season in 2013-14. The 54 points he scored against the Magic in February 2021 are the most scored in a game by an undrafted player.
With VanVleet, Kevin Porter Jr. can move to a position off the ball, allowing the Rockets’ top catch-and-shoot player to get more 3-pointers than the 1.7 he averaged off passes last season when he initiated offense as a point guard. VanVleet also allows Amen Thompson time to grow into the role running the offense and to have another shooter on the floor when they play together.
Even with the hefty price to get VanVleet, the Rockets have roughly $24 million to spend in free agency without making any other deals to clear more room.
They have also sought Bucks center Brook Lopez and Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks. Lopez, the Defensive Player of the Year runner up, was a first-team All-Defensive team selection. Brooks was an All-Defensive second-team pick. Lopez, who began his career as a low-post scorer when he was an All-Star with the Nets, is second in career 3-pointers for centers, and made 37.4 percent last season. Brooks was a strong 3-point shooter for two seasons but regressed the past three seasons.
The Rockets are unlikely be unable to sign both. But they started with the player they had on top of their list, and then showed how much they wanted him.
Source: Houston Chronicle
