Earlier this afternoon, ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania announced on X that Houston Rockets guard Fred VanVleet suffered a torn ACL. Charania added that it's "A devastating, potentially season-ending loss for the Rockets with their starting point guard and leader."
Charania later explained in a follow-up piece for ESPN that VanVleet "suffered the injury at a recent offseason workout." He also mentioned that VanVleet "could miss the entire 2025-26 season."
Ex-Raptors guard Fred VanVleet revealed to have a torn ACL
News of this kind comes at arguably the worst possible time, since we're just about a month away from the start of the 2025-26 NBA regular season. The Rockets clearly depended a lot on VanVleet as their main point guard and a key source of veteran leadership.
Houston was able to secure VanVleet on a new team-friendly deal back in June, locking him down to a two-year, $50 million extension. VanVleet was coming off a decent 2024-25 season, where he averaged 14.1 points with a 37.8% shooting percentage from the field, 34.5% from three, along with 5.6 assists, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.6 steals.
But before that, I think we all know VanVleet made a name for himself as a member of the Toronto Raptors. After going undrafted in the 2016 NBA Draft, he quickly became a key part of the team's plans and even proved to be a crucial difference-maker in the franchise's 2019 championship campaign. In seven seasons with Toronto, Fred VanVleet would average 14.6 points, 5.3 assists, and 3.3 rebounds, across a span of 417 total games played during his Raptors tenure.
As the Rockets embarked on a tough first-round playoff matchup against Golden State earlier this year, I highlighted in a few pieces how the VanVleet of Raptors old was quickly revealing himself once again; proving that despite his polarizing play style, FVV remained a steadfast vet ready to step up for his team when it mattered most. Sure, Houston ultimately came up short in seven games, but it was a positive sign for Rockets Nation to see that VanVleet can still step into a crucial role, even at this late stage of his career.
Now, VanVleet is going to miss a big part of the upcoming Rockets season while he's on the sidelines. As Shams Charania mentioned, this could mean FVV might be completely inactive for the entire season, and it's absolutely devastating news for all the parties involved.