“Veteran floor general Fred VanVleet continues trucking along as one of the better starting point guards in the league,” HoopsHype writes in its 2025-26 rankings.
Fred VanVleet isn’t flashy, and his shooting numbers (37.8% overall, 34.5% on 3-pointers) dipped during an injury plagued 2024-25 season. Yet, the 6-foot-0 veteran was the starting point guard and on-court leader for a resurgent Houston Rockets squad that finished with the No. 2 record (52-30) in the Western Conference.
Those were among the many reasons that Houston awarded VanVleet a new contract this offseason. It has also brought the 31-year-old considerable respect around the NBA, including in HoopsHype’s updated point-guard rankings for the 2025-26 season.
With VanVleet checking in at No. 17, Frank Urbina writes:
Veteran floor general Fred VanVleet continues trucking along as one of the better starting point guards in the league, playing with impressive amounts of toughness to go with his deep 3-point shooting and steady playmaking.
VanVleet isn’t an All-Star, at least not in the loaded West, but he’s on the tier right below that among NBA point guards. Just last season, the Illinois native helped play a large part in the Rockets making the leap from mediocrity back to being among the West’s elite. It merely led to a first-round exit for the team but even so, it was an important year for the Rockets — one that the group, led by VanVleet, will be expected to build on in 2025-26.
On the list, VanVleet is just ahead of Orlando’s Jalen Suggs, Dallas’ Kyrie Irving, and Indiana’s Andrew Nembhard. He is narrowly behind Boston’s Payton Pritchard, Chicago’s Josh Giddey, and Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball.
As for 2025-26, the hope in Houston is that VanVleet’s efficiency metrics will come closer to matching his tracking data and intangibles. It’s worth noting that in his first season (2023-24) with the Rockets, in which he was much healthier, VanVleet averaged 17.4 points (38.7% on 3-pointers) and 8.1 assists per game.
Those numbers fell off in 2024-25, yet in the 2025 playoffs, VanVleet bounced back to average 18.7 points per game while shooting 43.5% from 3-point range.
With a healthy ankle and the presence of Kevin Durant to shoulder more of the scoring load, the Rockets are hopeful of having a more efficient version of VanVleet in 2025-26.