Fred VanVleet didn’t ease his way back into the picture Friday. He came out firing.
After 523 days away from NBA action, the Houston Rockets guard returned in Houston’s NBA China Game matchup against the Dallas Mavericks and hit back-to-back three-pointers right away. The first few minutes made it clear he looked comfortable, moving with confidence, setting the pace, and supplying the kind of perimeter scoring Houston has been missing from its backcourt.
VanVleet’s return matters because the Rockets spent the entire 2025-26 season without him while he recovered from a knee injury that involved both his ACL and meniscus. That left Houston to manage a full season without one of its most experienced decision-makers, even as Alperen Şengün and Amen Thompson kept growing into bigger roles. Now that VanVleet is back, Ime Udoka has another steady ballhandler who can organize the offense, stretch defenses, and take some pressure off the rest of the roster, including Kevin Durant.
The comeback also comes after a summer built around rehab and his future in Houston. VanVleet exercised his $25 million player option in late June for 2026-27, locking in his return after missing the previous season.
He spent the offseason rebuilding his conditioning and trying to get his game back to form. Udoka said in late September that VanVleet had been cleared for basketball activities, and Friday marked the next step: live game action again.
A pair of early threes won’t tell the whole story of the comeback, but they did offer a strong first look. For a Rockets team trying to keep building around its young core and push further in the postseason, that was exactly the kind of opening Houston wanted to see.
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The bigger issue is how all of that comes together once the stakes rise and the supporting cast has to do more than just flash in spurts. Stone has been clear that the organization is trying to build in a way that fits its current personnel, but the real test will be whether the Rockets can keep enough balance around Durant to make a deep playoff run. For now, the optimism is easy to understand. The hard part is still figuring out how far this group can go when the season starts to ask more of everyone around its biggest name. [Read more 🡒]
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For the Rockets, the delicate part is figuring out how to balance long-term caution with what Durant still brings every night. His role and minutes are going to matter all season, especially with a player of his stature and mileage, and the team now has to sort through how to preserve him without stripping away the rhythm that has defined so much of his game. [Read more 🡒]
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Westbrooks exit also leaves open the broader conversation around his place in the game and whether this is truly the final chapter. Zach Randolph suggested Westbrook might still find a way back, and the emotions around the announcement showed how much respect he still commands from former teammates and peers. For Houston fans who watched Durants career unfold from afar and now know how closely these stars have been tied together, it was another reminder of how quickly the league can turn a familiar face into a memory. [Read more 🡒]