Painful Fred VanVleet truth the Rockets must face this season

The Houston Rockets are preparing for life without Fred VanVleet ahead of the 2025-26 season. They may come to the painful realization that they're fine without him.

Over the last couple of years, that would have been unthinkable. The Rockets needed VanVleet as badly as they needed air to breathe. They fell apart without him:

But this is a new group of Rockets.

Rockets may not miss VanVleet as much as you'd think

Last year, the Rockets needed to win the possession battle to win games. That meant securing offensive rebounds, as well as limiting (and creating) turnovers.

VanVleet was instrumental in executing the latter part of that strategy. He averaged 5.6 assists and just 1.5 turnovers per game. That's impressive, but it pales in comparison to 2023-24 when VanVleet averaged 8.1 assists and 1.7 turnovers per contest. VanVleet is perhaps the sturdiest high-volume passer in the NBA.

That's valuable, but the Rockets' possession-hogging always felt like a band-aid solution. It's a good way to win, but it would be less essential to limit turnovers if their offense were simply effective enough in the first place.

Enter Kevin Durant.

Last year, the Rockets needed more possessions because they weren't maximizing the possessions they did get. Much of that was contingent on Jalen Green. The Rockets had one of the least efficient leading scorers in the NBA.

That paradigm should entirely flip in 2025-26: Durant is one of the most efficient volume scorers in NBA history. Getting more shots will be less important when more shots are going in. Moreover, the Rockets should still dominate the possession battle by virtue of their league-best offensive rebounding.

It would be reasonable to note that, for all his strengths, VanVleet is not the most dynamic playmaker. That's part of how he limits his turnovers. VanVleet survives on a safe passing diet. Any Rockets fan has wished that he'd throw that risky skip pass at one time or another for the last two years.

Is that something that could change moving forward?

Rockets should keep VanVleet around

Let's avoid overcorrection.

VanVleet is good. There's a lot of value in his low-risk, medium-reward approach. Nobody should be throwing the baby out with the bathwater: It remains unfortunate that VanVleet will be out for the season.

That doesn't mean we can't acknowledge the other side of the coin. It will be interesting to see how the Rockets fare with Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard at the helm. There will invariably be more turnovers, but if their risk-friendlier approach to playmaking yields rewards, who knows?

It could lead to a painful realization about VanVleet's style.