Rockets Make Big Fred VanVleet Decision After Kevin Durant Trade originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

The Houston Rockets began the NBA offseason frenzy with a blockbuster trade that involved acquiring 15-time All-Star Kevin Durant on Sunday.

Houston acquired Kevin Durant in a trade that sent Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the No. 10 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, and five second-round picks to the Phoenix Suns.

This move sets up the Rockets to have an expected starting five that involves Fred VanVleet, Amen Thompson, Kevin Durant, Jabari Smith Jr., and Alperen Sengun.

However, the Rockets are still expected to make additional moves this offseason to free up space for a possible contract extension for Kevin Durant, who arrived in the recent trade.

Durant has $53.7 million remaining on the deal he originally signed in 2022 while with the Brooklyn Nets. After his contract passed through three teams and has ended up with the Rockets, Houston is now expected to offer the former NBA MVP a new extension.

It's been reported that point guard Fred VanVleet will come to an agreement on a new contract with the Rockets once free agency begins on June 30.

Houston is expected to decline VanVleet's team option before this Sunday's deadline but resign with the Rockets on a new deal, according to The Athletic's Kelly Iko.

The strong expectation is that Fred VanVleet and the Rockets will come to terms on a new deal once free agency begins June 30 at 6 PM ET, league sources say.@KellyIko reports that Houston is expected to decline VanVleet's $44.9M team option before Sunday's deadline to do so.

— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 23, 2025

VanVleet signed a three-year, $128.5 million contract with the Rockets in 2023 that has a team option for the third year linked to it.

It's expected that Houston will decline the third-year option on VanVleet, but come to an agreement with the All-Star point guard on a restructured deal that makes an extension for Kevin Durant more plausible.

It's looking like the Houston Rockets are making the moves necessary to set them up for a large payday for Kevin Durant, while also agreeing with Fred VanVleet on a pay cut to keep him on the team in the future.

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 23, 2025, where it first appeared.

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