Fred VanVleet to sign three-year, $130 million contract with Rockets, per report

VanVleet has spent his entire seven-year career with the Raptors

Fred VanVleet has agreed to join the Houston Rockets on a three-year, $130 million max deal, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. VanVleet has been one of the most coveted free agents on the market this offseason, and a number of teams made strong pushes to land the 2022 All-Star point guard. The Rockets have been at the front of that list for most of the offseason, and now they've secured their new point guard.

VanVleet's rise to become one of the NBA's best point guards is one of the more surprising in recent league history. Undrafted out of Wichita State in 2016, VanVleet caught on with the Raptors at Summer League, developed in the G-League, and ultimately grew into a key reserve very early in his career. He was one of their most important players when they won the 2019 championship, averaging 14 points on 40% 3-point shooting in the Finals while defending Stephen Curry for significant stretches of that series.

Eventually, he grew into Toronto's starter, and in his first season after the departure of longtime teammate Kyle Lowry, he was named to his first All-Star team. Last season was a bit of a step backward for VanVleet. Those his raw numbers looked similarly, he shot only 34.2% from 3-point range, the lowest figure of his career. The Raptors missed the playoffs after losing a play-in game against the Chicago Bulls, and that led to speculation that significant changes were coming to Toronto.

In Houston, VanVleet joins one of the youngest backcourts in the NBA. The Rockets have been built around Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr. over the last two seasons, and on draft night, they added Overtime Elite guard Amen Thompson. VanVleet is the most experienced and complete guard in that group, and he will help bring a level of organization and professionalism to Houston's offense.

The Rockets have had the NBA's worst record in two of the past three years, and now, Oklahoma City controls their next three first-round picks thanks to the Russell Westbrook trade. That has put pressure on the Rockets to try to win now, and VanVleet is the first major step in that direction.