Rockets appear poised to make critical Fred VanVleet error

The Houston Rockets are bound for the playoffs, but nobody knows how they'll perform when they get there.

To begin with, the Rockets' half-court offense can look suspect. They struggle to generate easy shots. Overreliance on offensive rebounding and overall toughness could prove costly when the lights get brighter.

Perhaps more importantly, his team is young. Their inexperience could cost them. The Rockets will be relying on Fred VanVleet, Dillon Brooks and Steven Adams to shepherd this young flock through the playoffs. So, they should keep those veterans fresh at all costs as the regular season comes to a close.

It seems that may not be the plan.

Rockets appear to be playing banged-up veteran

Fred VanVleet missed the team's contest against the Jazz on Wednesday.

Nobody was complaining.

That's not a knock on VanVleet. The Rockets didn't need their veteran floor general to dust off the tanking Jazz. It made sense to rest VanVleet, and get a look at the young core without him in the process. The Rockets picked up their 50th win of the season with ease.

Now, it seems that VanVleet might be gearing up for an early return. He is not on the team's injury report for tonight's contest with the Thunder.

Playing him could be a costly error.

Rockets must rest VanVleet

Do the Rockets need VanVleet to beat the Thunder? Probably. Will they beat the Thunder with VanVleet?

Probably not.

The Thunder are a bulldozer. This is the best team in the NBA. Yet, there's a broader point to be made here. If the Rockets want to go all-in on trying to secure a win against the Thunder, that's defensible - to an extent.

Risking a VanVleet injury goes beyond that threshold.

Some Rockets fans have soured on VanVleet. To be sure, it's been a challenging year for the veteran. VanVleet is averaging 14.3 points per game and shooting just 34.5% from long range.

Let's not miss the forest for the trees. Per CleaningTheGlass, VanVleet is part of the Rockets' best 2024-25 lineup. When he joins Amen Thompson, Dillon Brooks and Alperen Sengun, the Rockets are +30.1 across 130 possessions.

It gets better. The Rockets have 6 positive lineups this year. VanVleet is part of 4 of them. Even if you're ready to move on from him this summer, the Rockets still need VanVleet's ball security, three-point gravity and toughness heading into the postseason.

So, they should rest him against the Thunder. They should rest him on Sunday against the Warriors, too. If they lose both of those games and the Nuggets start chasing them in the standings, they could consider bringing him back.

The point is this: the more rest they can find for VanVleet, the better. The Rockets need him fresh for the postseason:

The odds are already stacked against them.