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Kevin Durant missed Game 1 suddenly, then he missed the rest of the series after his lone appearance in Game 2 because of an ankle sprain. The Rockets won two games without their superstar, but the team was entirely too dependent on him, which made winning the series too tall of a mountain to climb. Houston had a good year with Durant in the mix—earning the fifth seed in the Western Conference and falling just two games shy of No. 3. But the Rockets were “way too reliant” on Durant, an anonymous NBA scout told Sports Illustrated. The good news is that reinforcements are coming. “Getting Fred VanVleet back will be big,” the scout said. “He's going to be better than Reed Sheppard was last year. Not that Sheppard was that bad, but, Fred's a better creator. He's a better paint threat guy off the dribble. He may not be a better catch-and-shoot three-point shooter, but he's more adept at getting it off in the pick-and-roll. So they have a couple guys that can set screens, especially if Steven Adams is healthy. So I think he'll be a weapon for them that they didn't have.”
Mike Vorkunov: Myles Turner has been elected as a VP on the NBPA Executive Committee. He replaced Garrett Temple, who retired. This is now the full NBPA executive committee: • Fred VanVleet, President • Grant Williams, First Vice President • Mason Plumlee, Secretary-Treasurer • Karl-Anthony Towns, Vice President • Santi Aldama, Vice President • Jaylen Brown, Vice President • Trey Murphy III, Vice President • Myles Turner, Vice President • Gabe Vincent, Vice President
Lachard Binkley: Here Ime Udoka talks about seeing Fred VanVleet back on the court. “It’s great in the last month or so he has really ramped it up in San Diego doing his rehab.”
NBA Trade Machine: Fred VanVleet was part of 4.8% of the trades built on HoopsMatic over the past 24 hours. Of those trades, his top destinations were Minnesota (13.5%), Chicago (11.5%), and San Antonio (7.7%). The most common players sent back for him were Jaden McDaniels (11.5%), Trey Murphy (7.7%), and De'Aaron Fox (5.8%).
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Players such as Chet Holmgren, Chris Paul, Kyrie Irving and NBPA president Fred VanVleet all provided feedback that helped bring the renovated space together. “I’m excited to be a part of shaping the PLYRS UNTD Performance Center to meet the unique demands of the brotherhood,” said Holmgren, a forward/center for the Oklahoma City Thunder. “As professional athletes, there is so much work and preparation that goes on behind the scenes to perform at our best. Our new LA facility is equipped with the wellness, recovery, and training resources we need in the offseason and beyond.”
NBA Courtside: Joe Johnson says if he’s the Houston Rockets I’m taking that gamble on Russel Westbrook teaming back up with Kevin Durant: “I’m taking that gamble because look, think about this. Even if Fred VanVleet, I’m sure he will start the season, but damn, he just come off of ACL surgery. Y’all going to run him in the ground for 82 game. And what he going to be able to get you in the postseason? Nothing. So, you got to have some depth at that point guard position. Guys who know how to play, guys who know and understand the game and who can make the game easy for guys around him. So, I always think, bro, and when you look at him because he up in age, he always in great damn shape. And for me, y’all know me, bro. I’m a guy who loves a guy in great shape. You’re in great shape. You can play with me any day.” (Via @NightcapShow_ )
Last weekend in Las Vegas, as the National Basketball Players Association debuted its new executive director, David Kelly, he and NBPA president Fred VanVleet made it clear they are not fans of the second apron or its impact. “It’s not good for fans. Not good for players. I don’t think the (general managers) love it, although they may not say it on the record. Coaches don’t love it. The only people who really seem to really love it are the owners,” Kelly said in a July 10 interview with The Athletic. “Then, I think it’s gone too far. So whether it’s an unwinding of it, or a softening of the apron, or tweaking it, we can call it whatever we will. But … I do think it’s gone too far.”
“The playoffs was pretty hard,” VanVleet said. “I was about six months into that [rehab] time. I remember they told me I could come back in six months. I was feeling good some days. And then Game 1 or Game 2 [of the playoffs] and I was like, ‘Damn, I’m going to miss the whole [season]. I’m not coming back.’ That was a tough time.”
VanVleet has been working out daily and is close to being on “the court full time, ramping up, feeling good.” He also told Andscape he is confident he will be ready to play in the Rockets’ first preseason game next season, and he “feels like a rookie again.”
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VanVleet exercised his $25 million player option for next season, which is also the final year of his two-year contract. The Rockets also signed veteran guards Marcus Smart and Bojan Bogdanovic for insurance and depth. Those three guards will allow Thompson and sharpshooter Reed Sheppard to play off the ball more. VanVleet has been working out daily and is close to being on “the court full time, ramping up, feeling good.” He also told Andscape he is confident he will be ready to play in the Rockets’ first preseason game next season, and he “feels like a rookie again.”
The Rockets will play preseason games against the Dallas Mavericks in Macao, China, on Oct. 9 and 11. “I’ll be very disappointed if I’m not playing in the preseason,” VanVleet said. “What I missed the most was the outlet, the exertion, the escape of whatever our lives are in our worlds. I took for granted a lot of things of what I do because I just have been doing it every day for my whole life. “But the mental escape and the physical exertion of getting that energy out and wanting to bump people and cuss at referees, to have the highs and the lows and the failure and the success, I really just love every aspect of the game. So, to have that taken away from me was very humbling and eye-opening.”
![“We kind of got pushed out [last season],” Van Vleet …](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/content-pipeline-sports-images/sports2/nba/logos/18.png?format=png8&auto=webp&quality=85,75&width=140)
VanVleet said he is using his 2019 NBA championship with the Raptors and the New York Knicks’ 2026 NBA championship as motivation for his Rockets next season. “We kind of got pushed out [last season],” Van Vleet said. “We went from a fun AAU team to adding Kevin to a little favorite. The only bad thing about being a favorite is you get all of the flack — all of the criticism first. So, my experience is winning a championship in Toronto when nobody cared. Nobody paid us any attention. And they disrespected us the whole [season], and then we won. And that erased everything that happened previously. “The lead up to the moment doesn’t matter. We just watched the [New York] Knicks do it. Nobody thought they would win. Then they got there, dominated, and they were the best team ever. It’s just how the outside narrative works. But we got a lot of work to do.”
