2. Houston Rockets signing Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks
With plenty of money to spend heading into the offseason, the Houston Rockets wasted little time in making it known that they were pivoting toward a win-now core. They did so by signing Fred VanVleet to a three-year, $130 million deal and Dillon Brooks to a four-year, $80 million deal. The biggest reason why I believe this could end up being considered one of the bigger risks of the offseason is the fact that the Rockets took gambles on two players who probably don’t fit with the team’s timeline.
For as good as both players are in their own right, the combination of VanVleet and Brooks is likely not good enough to raise the Rockets drastically in the Western Conference standings. And the team’s young core is still a year or two away from taking a huge step in their respective development.
The Rockets had the money to spend so maybe they feel it will be a worthy gamble in the end, but there’s a very real chance that Houston quickly grows to regret these moves. I just don’t feel as if either of these signings makes all that much sense for the Rockets.