Rockets were eliminated by "Black 7", Van Vleet s value plummeted, and 44.89 million contract was postponed

Although the Rockets ranked second in the Western Conference in the regular season, they encountered their old rivals, the Warriors in the first round of the playoffs, and they were eliminated by the seventh-ranked Warriors. This round of the series also exposed many problems to the Rockets, especially the team's lack of superstars. So, this offseason, the Rockets may give up multiple young players, thus trading for better superstars and helping the team go further.

According to reports from American journalist Marc Stein, the Rockets have discussed with the team's highest-paid player Van Vleet to postpone the execution deadline for team options next season until the end of June. Originally in VanVleet's contract, the Rockets needed to choose whether to execute his team option within 5 days after the end of the playoffs. His team option next season is worth $44.89 million. This season's playoffs, VanVleet averaged 18.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1 steal, 0.3 blocks per game. If Van Vleet's performance is compared with Curry, the Warriors' star, then the gap will be huge. In this way, Van Vleet is actually a representative of high-paying and low-energy players. The reason why the Rockets do this is because Van Vleet has no way to help the team at critical moments, and his salary is the highest in the team. The discussion on whether the contract is executed is now postponed because the Rockets hope to make a difference in the draft. The draft is June 26. If the Rockets can choose better defenders, or other stars who can get better through draft picks, then they are very likely to give up Van Vleet's contract.

After all, the contract of $44.89 million is not small anymore. The Rockets have never been a generous team. They still hope to sign more suitable players with this salary.

can only be said that in the first round of the playoffs against the Warriors, Van Vleet's value was lost.