The Houston Rockets signed Fred VanVleet to a three-year, $128.5 million contract to lure him away from the Toronto Raptors. With Ime Udoka in the head coach's chair, it's clear the franchise no longer wants to rebuild. The goal is to establish winning habits while using veterans, such as VanVleet, to bridge the gap between youthful ineffectiveness and burgeoning contention.
VanVleet's arrival in Houston had far-reaching implications. Beyond the obvious — Houston better, Toronto worse — it also impacted the Philadelphia 76ers, whose primary competition for James Harden in free agency appeared to be the Rockets. With Houston out of the mix, suddenly the path to Harden's return to Philadelphia was clear as day. Until it wasn't.
Daryl Morey's hunger for leverage and/or the Sixers' fealty to the rules of the CBA left Harden upset and led him to request a trade. While Harden is in camp and playing ball for now, it's only a matter of time until his Sixers tenure ends.
This all could have been avoided if the Rockets were to target Harden on a three or four-year max contract instead of signing VanVleet. The Sixers would be in a wholly different place — either without Harden entirely or, perhaps more likely, the Sixers would have made a stronger push to sign Harden in the face of tangible competition.
So, why did the Rockets decide to leave Harden out to dry? Ime Udoka explained his preference for VanVleet to ESPN.
"Nothing against James [Harden], but Fred [VanVleet] is just a better fit. I coached James in Brooklyn. He's one of the smartest players I've ever been around. The words 'Ime doesn't want James' never came out of my mouth. It was, 'Let's look at the best fit.' If we want Jalen and the young guys to take the next steps, we need them to have the ball. As for me saying I don't want James, that was never the case. It was about fit."
Ime Udoka explains Rockets' preference for Fred VanVleet over James Harden
This feels like a very political answer from Udoka, as there have been reports of other factors contributing to the Rockets' decision. ESPN's own Stephen A. Smith cited a source who claimed Harden wanted to reunite with Houston and chase a scoring title, which is not what the Rockets are looking for.
As Udoka notes, the goal in Houston is to use the veterans to stimulate the growth of a talented young core. Harden sucks up a lot of oxygen on offense. He makes his teammates better, make no mistake about it, but he does so by exceedingly ball-dominant methods. If the goal is to get Jalen Green and Amen Thompson up to speed as star ball-handlers, there's no room to give Harden free reign over the offense.
VanVleet is a talented playmaker in his own right — he averaged 7.2 assists per game last season — but he's more adaptable off the ball than Harden. The latter made efforts to spot up more next to Joel Embiid, but there's no reason to believe Harden would go to the same lengths to adjust to Green or Thompson. He (rightfully) views himself as a star and the Rockets don't really need a star like that right now.
While his All-Star days are behind him, VanVleet brings winning DNA to the locker room and an adaptable skill set to the court. He's a 3-point bomber, one of the league's highest-volume snipers. He can operate off the dribble or off the catch; he figures to function as connective tissue for Houston's more spritely downhill attackers on a regular basis.
Harden is much better than VanVleet. Houston did not make this decision based on individual productivity or even on the basis of immediate winning. Harden would've added more wins next season than VanVleet, but it would come at the expense of long-term development for the younger players. The Rockets are still playing the long game. VanVleet made more strategic sense, and that's why he's there.
