New details of a meniscus tear and a sudden influx of backcourt depth spark concerns that Houston’s star guard may not be ready for opening night.
The Houston Rockets haven’t made any huge moves this offseason, but the choices they have made all point in a certain direction —— and it’s starting to worry me.
Before any transactions were even made this summer, Houston already gave us some fun news with potentially concerning implications. As covered here on Roundtable, Fred VanVleet was absent from all of the team promos for their new uniforms.
While it might not be anything to worry about, it did catch my eye. I think my eyebrow officially raised when the Rockets traded up to draft Bruce Thornton late last month. Not a complete red flag, but definitely something worth keeping an eye on.
With a former All-Star guard expected to be healthy to start the season, more than a year after his injury, that seemed like a good depth piece. I’m not so sure if he’ll be healthy after signing Marcus Smart though.
It seems like a bit too much depth at the position. Even if VanVleet isn’t playing in back to backs, there’s still a lot of guard. So is it possible he won’t even be ready for Opening Night?
It was recently revealed that he had a meniscus tear on top of his ACL tear, which was previous unknown to most. Perhaps that, or any other number of things is prolonging his recovery.
It’s unfortunate if the front office isn’t being transparent about that, but perhaps it’s just to keep some leverage in trades. Or I could just be making something out of nothing, but I do think it’s worth keeping an eye on.
