Fred VanVleet injury: Rockets star suffers torn ACL, could miss entire 2025-26 season, per report

Houston Rockets star point guard Fred VanVleet has suffered a torn ACL, putting his availability for the 2025-26 season in serious doubt, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Monday. Shortly after the Rockets declined VanVleet’s $44.9 million team option for this season, the franchise signed him to a two-year, $50 million deal with a player option during the 2026-27 season to remain in Houston.

VanVleet averaged 14.9 points, 5.7 assists and 3.4 rebounds as Houston’s starting point guard last season. The longtime member of the Toronto Raptors joined Houston during the 2023 offseason, when he inked a three-year, $128 million deal with the team.

Why Kobe Bryant is not a top-five NBA player of the 21st century

Brad Botkin

The one-time NBA All-Star helped Houston win 41 games during his first season with the franchise in 2023-24. The Rockets returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2020 last season after finishing with a 52-30 record. Houston lost in seven games to the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the playoffs.

Houston had a busy offseason in addition to bringing back VanVleet. The Rockets traded for star forward Kevin Durant and signed Dorian Finney-Smith, Clint Capela and Steven Adams in free agency. The Rockets have the fifth-best odds (14-1) behind the Oklahoma City Thunder, Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets and the New York Knicks, per FanDuel, to win the 2026 title.