To many, Fred VanVleet’s contract with the Houston Rockets throughout the opening hours of free company in 2023 was a gross overpay. On the floor, it is arduous to argue with this perception, as $128 million over three years (about $42 million per yr) is some huge cash for somebody who has by no means made an All-NBA workforce .
And it in all probability by no means will.
However the satan is within the particulars. VanVleet’s deal solely had a two-year assure, that means this season is technically the ultimate yr of his contract as a result of the third yr features a workforce choice. Moreover, the Rockets needed to spend their cap area, with out having a lot of a draw after being bottom-feeders for a number of years.
Whatever the contract, VanVleet has been invaluable to the franchise each on and off the sphere. Within the locker room, he has been a consummate skilled, bringing championship expertise to a workforce attempting to make a soar.
On the courtroom, VanVleet was the most effective ground generals, limiting his turnovers whereas averaging a career-high 8.1 assists. Ben Rohrbach of Yahoo Sports activities cited VanVleet because the thirteenth finest third choice within the leagueforward of Bradley Beal, Austin Reaves, Dejounte Murray and Michael Porter Jr.
VanVleet additionally had one in all his finest seasons from lengthy vary, taking pictures 38.7% on 8 makes an attempt.
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