A full MLE will be worth approximately $61 million, guaranteed over four years. FVV is unlikely to sign a deal in which he risks $31M in guaranteed money. I think the Rockets try hard to get the third-year option, but 2nd year option will not happen. As a fallback, the Rockets will make the deal declining.
I agree that he's a good passer and has good court vision. But that's not the same as understanding offensive development. Most of his passing is improvised. A lot of time it's in the air with nowhere to go. He has otherworldly body control so he can scan the court in the air and make the pass. But when he drives, he doesn't seem to have any plan to set up something. But I have confidence that he can learn. If he doesn't get to the level of NBA PG playmaking by the end of next season, I'll be very disappointed and think he probably is not PG material. Even then, it'd be fine if he has a reliable jump shot. I am also hopeful that Reed will be a very good PG. I maintain that neither guy is ready to be a starting PG. I don't mind FVV filling that gap in the meantime. The only thing I don't want is that Udoka may still lean on Fred and slow down the kids' development. If Stone does give Fred a reasonable extension, I hope he and the coach aren't so foolish to think that FVV is our mainstay starter in the foreseeable future. That would be very shortsighted.
This ranking was before the 24-25 season, which was certainly Fred’s worst since becoming a starter and probably the worst of his career. Ranking All 30 NBA Teams Starting Point Guards From WORST To FIRST For The 2024-25 Season 20. Fred VanVleet (Houston Rockets) Just a couple of years ago, VanVleet was considered a top 15-point guard in the NBA. His game remained the same and did not improve an inch. It’s safe to say that he has peaked after his surprising all-star selection a few years back. VanVleet needs to be careful, though, as rookie Reed Sheppard might take over the starting role if his game continues to stagnate. Alas, his game did not continue to stagnate, it went into full-on regression. This list would surely have him somewhere around #25 this year.
That is the point I have been making for weeks and am being vilified for it. I don’t usually like ESPN’s lists, but I’ll take this one .
They are in denial. Imagine what a 2 seed could do if they improved their #25 ranked PG who is using up 30% of the cap. We could get two or three useful players for him. Wake up, people!
Sure there are teams who would love to add FVV - but outside of Brooklyn who could pay max money (they won't) and Detroit who could offer up to $24m, how do any of them pay him more than MLE money. NT-MLE and S&T hard cap a team at the 1A, there will only be 4-5 teams who use the full MLE this year. He can't get much more in a S&T than otherwise on the open market because of the hard cap. There just isn't much cap space out there for free agents to take advantage of this offseason - no leverage for them. He is actually more valuable to the Rockets than other teams because there are no clear upgrades on the market and they have his bird rights allowing them to go over the cap to retain him .... IF the luxury tax is the line in the sand, they are $41,465,390 below that number without FVV - meaning that they would need to fill out the roster and spend a total less than that. (The luxury tax is actually a lower figure than the 1A). Filling the roster includes replacing or retaining Uncle Jeff, Tate and Adams while resigning FVV. I think the critical question here is how much does an Adams extension cost .... he was a pretty critical part of the team's most successful lineup and earned $18m last season. With the lack of $$ available in FA, I doubt that anything close to that number is available as a free agent. He'd likely be looking at room exception money ($8.78 million) or less on the open market. That leaves $32,685,390 and two roster spots to fill. Say Green and Tate's spots are filled at the minimum ($2,296,274), that leaves the Rockets $28,092,842 short of the tax line pending FVV's contract. They can create another ~8m in space by declining the options of Holiday & Landale but would have to replace them with minimum deals. Strange coincidence: all three contract deadlines (FVV, Landale, Holiday) are the same day - 6/29.
I say ditch FVV and sign Brogdon. Brogdon could be very cheap as he is coming off his worst season. Brogdon is a near 50-40-90 player for his career and is one of the few players to be in the club. Otherwise, I'd even roll with Holiday as the starter before FVV, even if he comes back at half the price.
You have to take into consideration that Jakucionis played half the season with a forearm injury - prior to that injury he was a 52/44/88 shooter. Don't get me wrong, I'd be thrilled with Clayton on this roster - I think he could contribute out of the starting gate. But I do believe that Jakucionis has a significantly higher ceiling.
Comes down to what Ime wants and he is the leader of the FVV fan club. Fred will be in Houston for the next 3-5 years at a much higher salary than most fans will be happy with
How many games did he play? I think he’s been injured a lot the last several years. Would be a good backup plan if we lose Adams and he can stay on the court.
It's beyond frustrating but unfortunately its the reality of the situation. We get FVV to run it back and have to watch the Spurs shoot ahead of us to contention.
I don't trust Stone to get a reasonable contract. He's the type of GM to overpay in free agency and underpay during the trade deadline. Dude gave Dillon Brooks 80M no team option when he was banished from Memphis and with 0 money available in free agency for Dillon.
I was pretty upset with the Brooks signing originally, but it has turned out to be a good deal. I do remember thinking that the number was high when nobody seemed to be pursuing him. But the other thing to remember is that we were the worst team in the league for several years at the time of his signing. They had to overspend a lot that summer to get FVV and Dillon to sign. That is not the case anymore. Signing Fred to $30M+ and adding a bunch of minimum salaries is the easy path. This is going to tell us if he is simply a salary cap manager or a talent evaluator.
