Happy to hear! KD Westbrook is expected to gather in Houston...

Injuries are more powerful than tigers!

Although the 2025-26 season has not officially started, the league can be considered as full of wounded soldiers! In addition to Jason Tatum, Damian Lillard, who had long known that the injury was reimbursed in advance for the season and Taylor Heelo, who would miss the early game of the new season after left foot surgery, the league has now had great bad news. Houston Rockets point guard Fred VanVleet, who suffered a serious injury to a torn ACL, is expected to be reimbursed in advance for the season!

On September 23, according to ESPN famous reporter Shams, Houston Rockets defender Fred Van Vreett suffered an ACL torn, which may lead to his season reimbursement. Medical expert Evan Jeffries said when talking about Van Vreet's injury that the recovery time for such injuries is usually 9-12 months.

From this we can see that Van Vreet's absence from the Rockets' entire 2025-26 season is almost a foregone conclusion! Fred Van Vreett was reportedly injured in a mini camp in the Bahamas and will undergo surgery this week.

The new season has not started yet, but the Rockets have suffered such a devastating blow at this time, which undoubtedly casts a shadow on their prospects for the championship in the new season! As the Rockets' point guard and team leader, Van Vreet's crash is a catastrophe, because it will directly affect the smooth progress of the Rockets' winning plan for the new season. It is no exaggeration to say that Van Vreet almost plays an indispensable role in the Rocket system! Who will fill the gap in his injury will be the first super problem that coach Uduka faces in the new season. In the 2024-25 season, Van Vreet averaged 14.1 points, 3.7 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 1.6 steals and 0.4 blocks per game. Although Van Jordan's personal data does not seem particularly eye-catching, he plays a vital role in the Rockets' back. Looking at the Rockets' guard group, whether it is Amen Thompson, Shepard, or Alon Holiday, they will eventually be unable to completely replace Van Vreet's unique role in the team!

If the Rockets want to win the O'Brien Cup as they wish in the new season, they must make up for the vacancy of Van Vreet's injury to the greatest extent. Rockets media person Biased Houston tweeted and said with emotion: "This ends the possibility of the Rockets winning this season's championship..."!

There is no doubt that Rockets general manager Stone's next top priority is to introduce top defenders in the free market to make up for Van Jordan's injury vacancy as much as possible! It is reported that the Rockets can apply for an injury special case worth 14.1 million after Van Vreet was injured, but they are currently only 1.25 million away from the first tycoon line. Since the Rockets are restricted by the rich line, even if the injury special case is approved, they cannot use the special case to sign the 15th standard contract player. Therefore, the Rockets must make room through trades to add another roster spot.

So, if a lineup quota has been freed up through trades, who will the Rockets introduce in the free market to replace Van Vreet? According to famous reporter Jake Weinbach, Westbrook and Ben Simmons are the only remaining top free agent point guards on the market if the Rockets want to find a replacement for Van Vreet. This means that Westbrook and Bency are the Rockets' only two choices at present!

And given the fact that Ben Simmons is not willing to accept a basic salary contract, Westbrook has undoubtedly become the Rockets' best choice! In this way, this means that Durant and Westbrook, the former good brothers, are expected to gather in Houston to plan a championship plan. There is no doubt that if the Dewey brothers can really join forces to win the championship again in the Rockets, this will definitely be something fans are looking forward to!

Perhaps, the Dewey brothers' winning plan that failed to complete in the Thunder that year will be realized in Houston next. By the way, are you optimistic about Westbrook returning to the Rockets and joining forces with KD to win the championship?