Breaking: Devastating Turn of Events For Fred VanVleet & Houston Rockets

A brutal turn of events for the Houston Rockets, even before the start of training camp. Starting point guard Fred VanVleet has suffered a torn ACL, and will miss the entire NBA season.

Just in: Houston Rockets' Fred VanVleet has suffered a torn ACL, sources tell ESPN. A devastating, potentially season-ending loss for the Rockets with their starting point guard and leader. pic.twitter.com/Qhf0V58DwR
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 22, 2025

VanVleet, the former NBA champion (2019 Toronto Raptors), suffered the injury during a team minicamp in the Bahamas — and the team has scheduled immediate surgery this week.

Keith Smith tells us that the "Rockets don't have room under their first-apron hard cap to sign another player right now. Barring a salary-clearing move, Houston will be able to sign a player in early January to a rest-of-season contract".

As insider Marc Stein notes, "many teams hold mini-camps at the players’ behest ahead of training camp for team bonding and in hopes of getting off to the fastest possible start … only for the Rockets to lose VanVleet’s leadership to such a cruel injury."

The Houston Rockets will need to replace VanVleet's playmaking in the backcourt somehow. The lone free agent remaining who might be able to solve that is... Russell Westbrook. But as Smith noted above, that wouldn't be able to be done without a "salary-clearing move."

Reed Sheppard, the third overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, should see a massive opportunity to take on a lot of the ball-handling for the Rockets. He averaged 12.6 minutes in his rookie season last year.