On a recent episode of Unguarded, Houston Rockets guard Fred VanVleet gave an update on how his rehab from a torn ACL is going. As part of that update, VanVleet left the door open that he could still play this season.
“I’m about five, five and a half months, almost six months now. So, I’m getting there. I’m getting stronger. I’m getting better. I’m moving around a lot better. I’m getting some good on-court workouts. I think a lot of the predictions of where I was going to be were made pre-surgery, so we’ve had to adjust that timeline as things go on,” VanVleet said. “But again, selfishly, I’m always going to keep my window open. I’m not going to come on here and tell you, ‘Oh, I’m not coming back,’ and then I come back like, ‘Oh, surprise.’ But I’m not ruling it out, and I’m not saying I’m coming back. I’m just rehabbing, I’m working on myself, and I keep that goal in mind because I’ve made such good progress.”
VanVleet tore his right ACL in a workout in late-September ahead of Rockets training camp. The assumption has been that the veteran point guard would miss the entire season. However, neither Houston nor VanVleet has ruled out playing before the end of this season.