Jake Fischer says what all Rockets fans are thinking about Fred VanVleet

As trade season begins for the Houston Rockets, the organization remains in a strange spot, as they are hard-capped at the first apron and largely unable to make even a minor trade without sacrificing one of their more significant depth pieces.

Yet, according to Jake Fischer, Fred VanVleet's $25 million AAV remains their most interesting trade chip (although there have not been serious trade rumblings). As a result, the primary question facing Houston now that the December 15th mark has passed has become obvious. Are they willing to move VanVleet in order to make a serious upgrade at point guard?

""The one name that became trade eligible today that I think is the most interesting is Fred VanVleet... I am curious if the Rockets will get trigger-happy knowing how close they are.""

Jake Fischer

Given the contracts and the trade value that other tradeable players on the Rockets hold, VanVleet would be their most obvious path to acquiring a larger contract, and, as painful as it would be, it also represents their only path to acquiring the type of starting-caliber point guard they would likely desire.

The Rockets still have a tough Fred VanVleet decision to make in the coming weeks

As simple as it might seem from a business and team-building perspective, given the massive leap that Houston has taken toward championship contention this season, trading VanVleet takes on a much weightier significance in consideration of what he has given to the organization.

VanVleet was absolutely instrumental in leading the team's young core out of their rebuilding phase and into competitiveness. He is not only a leader on the court as a ball-handler and a reliable playmaker, but, for many of Houston's young guys, he has become a model of professionalism.

Therefore, sending him away while he rehabs his ACL injury is much less simple, from a standpoint of team culture, than it may sound.

Yet, Fischer has a serious point. VanVleet likely represents the only sizeable contract on the Rockets' books that they would be willing to trade, and, if there were able to find some sort of deal where his salary was re-routed to a team that can stand to put his contract on their books, they would be able to go big-fish hunting.

In remains highly unlikely that VanVleet is moved this season, especially given the success the team has found with its non-traditional lineups in his absence. Yet, as promising as Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard have been, there is always the reality that it could not be enough, and what choice would Houston then be left with?