As Fred VanVleet nears his return, Houston’s physical center remains sidelined following ankle surgery. New gym footage offers hope, yet his timeline stays uncertain for the Rockets' opener.
The Houston Rockets got one major injury update last week, as covered on Roundtable, but we’re still waiting on another big piece of news. Fred VanVleet is expected to be healthy to start the season, but what about Steven Adams?
The NBA’s strongman got injured just about four months after VanVleet, though they were completely different injuries, so the recovery process and times were different as well.
Fred VanVleet had more of a standard 9-12 month window, while Steven Adams was, and still is, out indefinitely. His playing career will not go on indefinitely, though, as he’s about to turn 33 years old.
He got surgery on January 28th, meaning he’s had just under six months of recovery time at this point. With no setbacks to note, he has been looking pretty good and is even back in the gym:
Now, simply putting up some shots in the gym doesn’t mean he’s ready to play in full-on NBA action, but it’s a step in the right direction. It gives me hope that we’ll get a real update here in the near future.
Based on Rafael Stone and the moves the front office made (or didn’t make) this offseason, I believe they have a lot of faith in this roster. They tinkered around the edges, but more or less, just want to run back the same team as last year, including a healthy Steven Adams.
