Rockets fans should be outraged by Fred VanVleet's placement in latest rankings

Ranking NBA players is hard. Some would suggest that it's pointless, but that's a different article.

Houston Rockets fans want to see their favorite players ranked accordingly. They're no different than any fanbase in the league. So, it's always disappointing when a player is underrated.

Recently, HoopsHype published their player rankings for 2024-25. Fred VanVleet was ranked 20th among the league's point guards.

Was he underrated?

Houston Rockets guard ranked two spots too low

To make that call, we've got to look at who was ranked ahead of VanVleet. We won't go through the entire list - we know VanVleet wouldn't rightfully rank first. Let's look at the three players directly ahead of him.

Darius Garland checked in at 17th, Jrue Holiday was ranked 18th, and Dejounte Murray placed 19th. We won't argue over Holiday. He's made a habit of winning NBA championships in recent years. As one of the best defensive guards in the NBA, he deserves his place ahead of VanVleet.

In the case of both Garland and Murray, we felt compelled to check the numbers. They favor VanVleet. His Box Plus/Minus (BPM) of 3.4 was far ahead of both Garland (-1.0) and Murray (2.6). Value Over Replacement Player (VORP) tells the same story. VanVleet was at 3.6, while Garland was at 0.5, and Murray's VORP was 2.6.

Should we be using those advanced stats to make our argument? It's a point of contention. Let's talk in broader terms. Garland simply had a worse season than VanVleet in 2023-24. Unless you highly value the 0.6 points per game more he scored than VanVleet (18.0 vs 17.4), you won't find a statistical argument in favor of him.

On the other hand, Murray managed a lot more scoring volume at 22.5 points per game. Still, his defensive value notoriously nosedived alongside Trae Young in Atlanta. Now, he's heading to the Pelicans.

Is that why he's ranked ahead of VanVleet

VanVleet must avoid regression in 2024-25

It could be a factor. HoopsHype could be baking in an assumption that Murray will look better in a new uniform.

Moreover, they may be assuming that Garland will bounce back from a down year. They could also be assuming that VanVleet regresses.

That's a possibility. VanVleet is 30, and small guards are notorious for rapidly declining. Still, we wouldn't call it a fair assumption. VanVleet was significantly better than both Murray and Garland in 2023-24, and the smart money is on that trend continuing in 2024-25.

In the end, it doesn't really matter. We're confident that VanVleet is more concerned with helping the Rockets make a playoff push in 2024-25 than he is with how various publications are ranking him.

Perhaps it's wise to avoid ranking players altogether?