The 2023-24 season was marked by growth and improvement of young people Houston Rockets (41-41), whose 19-win improvement was the largest annual increase of any NBA team. A big reason was the signing of veteran guard Fred VanVleet, a 2022 All-Star, last offseason.

Heading into the 2024-25 season, there is hope for another leap forward. With a young and talented core comprised of seven early-round picks (Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun, Jabari Smith Jr., Tari Eason, Amen Thompson, Cam Whitmore and Reed Sheppard) from the last four NBA draft cycles, the Rockets have a significant amount of young talent that could improve organically.

Additionally, three Houston veterans planned game rotationOne is a newcomer (Steven Adams) and two (VanVleet, Dillon Brooks) are just entering their second seasons in Houston. So there could be some improvement in those roles as well, as the veterans continue to acclimate to a relatively new system under second-year head coach Ime Udoka.

With that in mind, what might the best possible outcome look like? To try to find out, we look at the top five performances from each rotation player from last season, as determined by Game score. We’ll continue this series with VanVleet, who should have a financial incentive to perform well as he enters a potential contract year (Houston has a team option on his contract for 2025-26).

  • April 11, 2024 (Jazz 124, Rockets 121): 42 points, 7 assists, 7 rebounds, 2 steals; 12 of 30 shooting (40.0%), 9 of 13 on 3-pointers (69.2%), 9 of 10 on free throws (90.0%), +12 in 40 minutes; 33.1 Game Score

  • April 9, 2024 (Rockets 118, Magic 106): 37 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 13 of 22 shooting (59.1%), 6 of 11 on 3-pointers (54.5%), 5 of 6 on free throws (83.3%), +21 in 38 minutes; 31.5 Game Score

Overall statistics 2023-24: 17.4 points, 8.1 assists, 3.8 rebounds, 1.7 turnovers in 36.8 minutes; 41.6% shooting, 38.7% 3-point shooting, 86.0% free throw shooting; 16.7 PER, 56.8% TS, .150 WS/48

More: Top 2023-24 performers: Rockets forward Tari Eason

This article was originally published on Rockets Wire: Best of 2023-24: Rockets point guard Fred VanVleet

Share.
Leave A Reply