Houston Rockets will feature a new look for the 2025-26 season and that means chemistry will be something they need to establish. Unfortunately for them, their starting point guard won’t be there as Shams Charania announced that Fred VanVleet suffered an injury.
Charania wrote:
Houston Rockets star point guard Fred VanVleet has suffered a torn ACL and could miss the entirety of the 2025-26 season, sources told ESPN on Monday.
He suffered the injury at a recent offseason workout, sources told ESPN.
VanVleet, a one-time All-Star and former NBA champion (2019 with the Toronto Raptors), has helped spearhead the Rockets’ turnaround from lottery team to playoff contender in his two seasons with Houston.
This bad news came at a time when there’s only a few weeks left before the start of pre-season games and a few days before the start of the training camp.
Rockets are regarded as one of the top teams – within Top 3 – this coming season following the arrival of Kevin Durant. They also have one of the deepest bench after getting Dorian Finney-Smith and Clint Capela.
Houston Rockets’ 3rd pick viewed as replacement
Rockets also have one of the best young cores and while the likes of Amen Thompson and Jabari Smith are already part of the regular rotation, even projected to become All-Stars in the future, they also have newcomers that are still waiting for a chance.
Reed Sheppard is a third overall pick from the last year’s draft but he played just 51 games, starting only three times. Some of them happened because VanVleet had to be out due to various injuries. He was never used in the playoffs against the Golden State Warriors.
Rockets might not be able to sign a free agent point guard now and according to NBA insider Michael Scott of Hoops Hype, Sheppard might be assigned more point guard roles together with Thompson.
With Fred VanVleet suffering a torn ACL and needing surgery, expect Reed Sheppard and Amen Thompson to see more playing time at point guard. The VanVleet injury is a significant blow to the Houston Rockets, who added Kevin Durant with the hope of competing for an NBA championship
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) September 22, 2025
The team also have Aaron Holiday as an option. He played 61 games last season and averaged 5.5 points per game.
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