The Houston Rockets look set to be without Fred VanVleet for the entire 2025-26 NBA season after he tore his ACL in minicamp. There has been a lot of talk about how the Rockets should replace VanVleet, but NBA analyst Tim Legler explained why they don’t need to bring in anyone on the All NBA Podcast.
“Do you really need that quintessential lead guard like a guy like Fred VanVleet?” Legler asked. “And look, remember he was playing in Toronto with Kyle Lowry, so they kind of shared it, right? Kind of two smaller-ish type guards. They played some one, some two. They spot up and shot it. They both guarded.
“But it was almost like, six of one, half dozen the other,” Legler said. “Like, who’s your point guard? I look at a team like Boston. In Jrue Holiday and Derrick White, neither one of those guys is really a traditional lead guard. They’re just good players. Most of their offense initiation, even whether it’s ISO or ball screen, came from Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. They’re forwards.
“And then the two guards could handle the ball,” Legler stated. “Both excellent defenders, which made them more valuable for them… Jrue was more of like a weak-side cutter type post-up guard, and Derrick White became really an excellent spot-up shooter or a shooter shooting a three-off ball screen.
“But the offense was run through the other two guys, Tatum and Brown,” Legler continued. “So maybe Houston with [Alperen] Sengun’s ability to initiate, with Kevin Durant’s ability to initiate. We talked about Amen Thompson and his ability to initiate in a different way than those guys. Maybe that’s enough.
“And you rely more on this guard spot now as a guy that can spot up, space the floor, and knock down shots at a high rate,” Legler added. “In which case, Reed Sheppard and [Aaron] Holiday can both maybe be answers for that. And you run your offense a little bit differently with the other guys being the primary ball handlers and decision makers than a guy like VanVleet, who would have had the ball a lot.”
The Boston Celtics managed to win the championship in 2024 by running their offense through Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, and Legler thinks something similar is possible with the Rockets. He thinks Kevin Durant, Alperen Sengun, and Amen Thompson can take turns initiating the offense.
The Rockets could certainly try this out at the start of the 2025-26 season. As things stand, they cannot sign a replacement for VanVleet as they are only $1.25 million below the first apron. They cannot file for a Disabled Player Exception either because of the apron.
The Rockets have to make a trade if they are to fill their open roster spot with a free agent. They can get some decent replacements from the market, but might be better off first seeing how the current iteration fares on the court. If Legler’s idea isn’t working, they can then look into signing a guard or trading for one.
