One of the Golden State Warriors' biggest rivals has suffered a devastating blow on the eve of the NBA season, with Houston Rockets guard Fred VanVleet suffering a torn ACL just over a week out from training camp.
As first reported by ESPN's Shams Charania on Monday, VanVleet is now likely to miss the entire season in what is a brutal blow for a Rockets team looking to take the jump into championship contention after the blockbuster addition of former Warrior Kevin Durant.
Fred VanVleet's injury causes a ripple effect on the Warriors
The VanVleet injury will have a major impact on Houston's chances in the Western Conference, particularly given their lack of point guard depth which will now likely see them rely heavily on second-year lottery pick Reed Sheppard.
The other aspect to this is that the Rockets payroll situation and proximity to the first apron disqualifies them from signing a free agent point guard such as Russell Westbrook, even if they were to get a disabled player exception to account for VanVleet's injury. Additionally, Houston only has a short list of players who are currently trade eligible given all their offseason activity.
This is quite obviously important for the Warriors who, despite winning a gruelling seven-game first-round series last season, have been seen as sitting a tier below the Rockets in the West after the Durant addition.
Does this unfortunate event do enough for Golden State to jump a place in the conference hierarchy? At the very least it brings them a lot closer, albeit the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder still loom over the West and should only get better given their youth.
A 1x All-Star with the Toronto Raptors in 2022, VanVleet's experience and leadership has been incredibly important in Houston's ascension over the past couple of years. The 31-year-old averaged 14.1 points, 3.7 rebounds and 5.6 assists last season, before increasing his production to 18.7 points on 43.5% 3-point shooting during the first-round against the Warriors.
VanVleet's history against Golden State goes far beyond last season though, having been an integral part of the Toronto team that won the 2019 Finals. Still somewhat of an unproven player at the time, VanVleet hit a couple of dagger threes during the series that proved pivotal to the Warriors' 4-2 defeat.
The implications of his injury go even deeper given the Warriors and Rockets are both in Group C for the NBA Cup, with the two teams to meet for the first time this season on November 26 at Chase Center.