HOUSTON — To the untrained eye, Rockets guard Fred VanVleet’s mild-mannered, almost stoic demeanor could have come across as unenthusiastic. But as the veteran guard sat at the podium fielding reporters’ questions, arms folded and tucked, his gaze piercing through the room, it was clear the fire within — a flame dampened after a lost season — was flickering again.
“I’ve been progressing nicely,” VanVleet said at Rockets media day Tuesday. “These things don’t always go how you plan them to go. But to be where I am right now, with the season opener 30 days out, I feel really good. It’s gonna be a process still, but I’m sure what you guys see won’t be the finished product. I’m in a really good spot.”
It’s been nearly a year to the day that VanVleet tore his right ACL. Twelve months of rigorous rehab, patience (and impatience) and observation. Twelve months of watching his younger, less experienced teammates be thrust into positions with accelerated expectations. Twelve months of conversations with Kevin Durant and head coach Ime Udoka, attempting to visualize how the team could — and should — look with all of the Rockets’ moving pieces fully assimilated and healthy.
There’s an underrated feeling, an unspoken joy, in things simply being normal.
“It’s more of what we envisioned last year coming into it,” Udoka said. “Talking to Kevin, he’s excited just being back in the gym with some veteran guys out there. Our young guys have all taken steps and grown this offseason. It puts guys in their natural positions … gives us a lot of optimism.”
The plan to fully work VanVleet back into the rotation will take time. Although he’s been cleared for full 5-on-5 contact play, he won’t play in back-to-backs (Houston has five between October and December). And make no mistake, the Rockets will need every minute of him they can muster.
VanVleet is best served as a palate cleanser, a calming change-of-pace organizer that is an extension of Udoka on the floor. Houston led the league in high-leverage minutes last season, possessions that largely impact wins and losses based on time, score and opponent. The Rockets also finished the year just outside the bottom 10 in half-court efficiency (and were 19th out of 20 possible playoff teams). Sprinkle in their below-average marks in turnover rate, possession, a quiet slippage in defensive forced turnovers and their continued floor spacing woes, and it’s simple to see why VanVleet remains critical to Houston’s setup despite its apparent flaws.
“Another ball-handler and shooter on the floor,” Durant said. “That can help take pressure off of everybody. The more guys that can put pressure scoring and shooting the basketball, but also that can guard on the other end — it’s better for our team. Just another guy that can do that.”
From a leadership standpoint, there’s no question that VanVleet returning in a full-time capacity raises Houston’s floor and potential ceiling. Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard were entrusted with the bulk of perimeter playmaking responsibilities in his absence, a steep learning curve that manifested itself during the postseason. Having VanVleet around in the locker room outside of a part-time role certainly aids their progression, understanding of the game and improves their individual processors.
If the Rockets are to truly improve their offensive product from last season — and speed things up as Udoka put it plainly — there will need to be more than one capable creator on the floor at all times. Between VanVleet (and new addition Marcus Smart), there should be enough know-how to go around.
Kevin Durant doesn’t want reduced minutes
Durant, who is entering his 20th NBA season, pushed back against the notion that his minutes should be reduced to better preserve him going forward.
“It’s been the same message for me for a long time,” Durant said plainly. “I’m better on the court. The team is better when I’m on the court. Now if we handle our business in the first three quarters or earlier in the game, then maybe. But that’s what I train for, to play 48 minutes a night. I get the concern, but if the game needs me to be out there, I want to be out there.”
The veteran scorer finished second in total minutes last season, only behind his teammate Thompson — a byproduct of a Udoka system. Because of the team’s lack of creativity outside of Durant and his blend of shooting, playmaking and overall scoring savvy, his insistence on being on the floor as much as possible is understandable. But given Houston’s depth, the presumed improvements schematically and expected natural development of their young players, shaving his time makes sense.
Durant described the injury that ruled him out of the playoffs as a consequence of playing a contact sport, but if the Rockets can ease the load he sustained up until April — even by a hairline of a difference — the juice is worth the squeeze.
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