In June 2025, the Houston Rockets and veteran guard Fred VanVleet agreed to a contract restructure that provided the team with additional short-term financial flexibility.
The tradeoff was that the player received longer-term stability by turning his single season option year into multiple years of guaranteed money.
Could the same scenario play out again in June 2026?
The circumstances aren’t identical. In 2025, the option year of VanVleet’s existing contract was a team option, which inherently gave more leverage to Rockets general manager Rafael Stone. In 2026, the option year is a player option, which normally gives more control to the player’s side of negotiations.
Then again, in 2025, VanVleet was coming off a relatively healthy and successful season as Houston’s starting point guard. In 2026, VanVleet is coming off a season that he missed altogether due to a torn ACL in his right knee. Presumably, that could diminish the 32-year-old’s market leverage.
For the 2026-27 season, there’s an argument to be made that VanVleet might prefer additional years of financial security, as opposed to having the added pressure of a “contract year” — i.e. potentially determining the value of his next deal — during his first season back from knee surgery.
So, with those factors in mind, there’s at least a path for the Rockets and VanVleet to explore what another restructure might look like. To that end, the Houston Chronicle’s Varun Shankar writes:
VanVleet has a $25 million player option for next season. The Athletic reported that the 32-year-old could decline it and “negotiate a new deal with Houston to provide some short-term cap flexibility in exchange for a few additional years of security.” To do so, VanVleet would probably need an offer with a total value somewhere around $50 million over three years, with the last perhaps a player option.
For VanVleet, the question comes down to how much of a decrease in annual salary that he would be willing to accept, relative to playing out his current deal and then taking his chances in 2027 free agency.
For the Rockets, whose payroll will become more expensive when Amen Thompson’s second NBA contract begins in 2027-28, the question is how much guaranteed money they would be willing to add to that season’s books (and perhaps 2028-29, as well). The tradeoff would be getting more financial flexibility in 2026-27, relative to the league’s salary cap and apron thresholds.
In contrast to the 2025 restructure, it’s worth noting that Shankar’s “2+1” proposal would not trigger an implied no-trade clause during the first season of any new contract, which VanVleet had in 2025-26 due to its “1+1” terms. That could provide Stone and the Rockets with more optionality next season.
There’s no guarantee that a deal gets done, but both sides do have at least some incentive to have the conversation and see what the opposing side would accept. And the positive working relationship from their 2023 and 2025 agreements certainly can’t hurt the chances of another deal being reached.
This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: Reports: Rockets, Fred VanVleet may explore another contract restucture
Reporting by Ben DuBose, Rockets Wire / Rockets Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
