With all of their offseason moves, the Houston Rockets were poised to be a top title contender in the 2025-26 NBA season. But now with Fred VanVleet potentially set to miss the entire year with an ACL injury, the now Kevin Durant-led team is in a difficult position.
Houston did renegotiate VanVleet’s contract over the summer to keep him as a point guard alongside Durant for next year, but after the injury, his future with the Rockets is now in question.
While the franchise will want to take advantage of the limited time they’ll have with Durant, Houston could make a big trade to solidify themselves as title contenders, even with their lead ball handler now out.
It might sound like a stretch, but Tyrese Maxey of the Philadelphia 76ers could be a player Houston targets as both a playmaking and scoring option to put next to Durant, Alperen Sengun, and Amen Thompson.
Mock Trade For Tyrese Maxey
The Rockets need a point guard, and as seen in the Durant trade, they could offer a big head to the Sixers for a new star. Here’s what a full trade would look like.
Houston Rockets receive: Tyrese Maxey and Eric Gordon
Philadelphia 76ers receive: Reed Sheppard, Tari Eason, Fred VanVleet, Clint Capela, a 2027 first-round pick (via PHO), and a 2029 first-round pick (most favorable of HOU, DAL, and PHO)
“Someone like Maxey. While he’d awfully hard to pry out of Philadelphia, he’d be all-caps GREAT if the asset-rich Rockets could pull it off,” Zach Buckley wrote for Bleacher Report. “He’s a star in his own right, but the fact he can play on or off the ball means he’s built to shine bright alongside other stars, like Kevin Durant and Alperen Şengün.”
As seen, Houston would need to send a ton of assets to match Maxey’s $200+ million deal, but he’d slide in as one of the top scorers in the league from two seasons ago, with a proven track record of leading an offense.
With the Rockets on the rise and the Sixers on the fall, Philadelphia could send away one of its top stars in hopes of redeveloping its roster with Jared McCain and VJ Edgecombe. The Joel Embiid, ‘Trust The Process’ era hasn’t seen much success, and the recent addition of Paul George has proven unfavorable, meaning a full reset could be in play.
“They might have to start considering their long-term future,” Buckley added. “If the Sixers decide they can’t make this work—or, at the very least, aren’t contenders this season—then they might pounce on a couple of building blocks in Sheppard and Eason, plus the juicy, unprotected firsts they’d be getting here.”
Rockets Might Stay Quiet Until Mid-Season
In a perfect world, Houston would likely want to make a change as soon as possible to bring in a VanVleet replacement. However, the Rockets are limited as to how they can improve their roster right now.
According to Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints, Houston is about $1.2 million from the first apron hard-cap, meaning they don’t have the salary to offer a free agent like Russell Westbrook or Ben Simmons a minimum deal. They could attempt to apply for a disabled player exception, but that wouldn’t allow the Rockets to pick up another player this summer.
Houston can’t free up any cap space until December, and while that may sound years away, the front office might not be desperate to make a move until then.
“So Houston is in a position right now where I talked to a bunch of executives over the last 24 hours since the injury happened,” NBA insider Kevin O’Connor said. “I asked, ‘What do you think Houston’s going to do?’ All of them said they’re likely going to go into the year with the team they have, play the young guys, then come December or January, that’s when you think about making moves or trades.”
Kelly Iko of The Athletic shared that same sentiment. Houston has multiple young players it can trot out to start the season in VanVleet’s place, with time before they decide on making a big trade.
“I think it’s still pretty raw in their minds. I talked to them the other day, and they said, ‘Look, this is the bed that we made. If we’re going into the season, these are the guys we’re going to battle with,” Iko added in the conversation with O’Connor, via HoopsHype. “Come December, you might have different conversations.”
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