NBA Analyst Sounds Alarm on Kevin Durant Risk Amid Rockets’ Fred VanVleet Setback

Rockets nation, how are we doing after that offseason gut punch? If that’s not hurting enough, here comes Bill Simmons. Now the analyst has never been the ‘yay Rockets’ kind of guy. You’d even think he’s hyped that Houston lost Fred VanVleet as an option. By his own admission, he felt VanVleet was a hurdle to Houston’s title chances. This time he’s doing a u-turn. But is he giving the Rockets the benefit of the doubt? Never.

For those who didn’t get their afternoon ruined, Rockets point guard, Fred VanVleet is out indefinitely from the 2025-26 season after suffering a torn ACL. VanVleet, who signed a $50 Million extension in June, a price worth the turnaround he brought to the team despite what Simmons says.

With Amen Thompson and now Kevin Durant, the Rockets were the frontrunners for a championship. That’s completely changed. Simmons very bluntly laid it out on his podcast immediately after the news. “I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that this injury by itself takes the Rockets from a team that could plausibly win the championship to a team that might not be able to win, slash maybe can’t win, the championship. Like he’s that important.”

The Rockets still has its young core and now veteran leadership in KD. But without VanVleet, the dynamic shifts in a way that will amp the pressure on Slim. “I just think they have just nobody like Fred VanVleet and no sort of traditional point guard who can calm you down. They have Durant now, and I think one of the ripple effects of this is like the risk of overtaking Durant in the first 40 games of the season, like running a bunch of pick and rolls, all that stuff. So I think it’s like, I think it’s a disaster for the Rockets.”

This is a developing story.