Fred VanVleet has agreed to sign with the Houston Rockets on a three-year, $130 million deal.

VanVleet departs the Toronto Raptors after winning a championship and making an All-Star team.

The Raptors were reportedly aggressive in trying to keep VanVleet.

VanVleet is represented by Rich Paul and Erika Ruiz of Klutch Sports. 

The Houston Rockets are expecting to meet Kyrie Irving at the start of free agency, sources tell Kelly Iko of The Athletic.

Irving is widely expected to re-sign with the Dallas Mavericks, but is believed to be creating as much leverage as possible in negotations.

The Rockets are focused on Fred VanVleet, who is also considering re-signing with the Toronto Raptors. 

The Dallas Mavericks intend to re-sign Dwight Powell, source tell Marc Stein of Substack.

Powell is expected to also draw interest from the Cleveland Cavaliers and Houston Rockets.

The Mavericks, however, consider Powell a key part of their team and is the longest-tenured player. Dallas is confident he will re-sign.

The Houston Rockets were long linked with a pursuit of James Harden as he had maintained a fondness for the franchise and for the city. The Rockets also wanted to accelerate their rebuild as they also enter the offseason with cap space.

But the situation may have shifted with the arrival of Ime Udoka as head coach.

"I think once Ime Udoka came in as head coach, they started looking at the roster," said Adrian Wojnarowski. "What they wanted to do in free agency. I think Fred VanVleet has moved to the top of the list in Houston.

James Harden had interest in returning to the Houston Rockets this offseason, but their focus was increasingly upon Fred VanVleet at guard, sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

VanVleet declined his $22.8 million player option with the Toronto Raptors.

Harden will look for a trade to a contending team after exercising his opt-in with the Philadelphia 76ers. 

The Sixers do not have Harden in their long-term plans, which became evident as they explored contractual scenarios. 

The Houston Rockets appear to have the edge in signing Kyle Kuzma in free agency, sources tell Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report.

Kuzma also is expected to receive interest from the Sacramento Kings, who cleared cap space on draft night. The Utah Jazz were also previously linked with Kuzma, but they traded for John Collins this week, which creates a positional logjam in the frontcourt.

The Rockets figure to be one of the more aggressive teams in free agency.

James Harden has somewhat unexpectedly left his $35.6 million player option with the Philadelphia 76ers linger with free agency set to begin on Friday.

"If you're declining the option, you don't have to file any paperwork," said Adrian Wojnarowski on Wednesday evening. "It's just if you're opting into it. James Harden's got 24 hours. 

"I think the plan as he did his deal last year was to go into free agency. He would opt out of his deal and then be able to do a long-term deal, presumably with the 76ers.

"Now, that $35 million option. If he opts into that, he could be traded. The Sixers then [could say] 'You're under contract, you could be moved.'

"I think for James Harden, he'll take it down to the wire over the next 24 hours. If you're James Harden and you get into free agency, you want to know that you're going to get a quick resolution with the Sixers. Because the longer it drags out, money dries out elsewhere, you lose leverage.

"I think for Philadelphia, the real hang up, the real challenge is going to be how many years on a deal? I think getting near-max money... I don't think it's going to be dollars per season. It's going to be how many years they want to invest in James Harden."

Wojnarowski didn't outline potential teams Harden could be traded to if he does opt-in with an eye on a potential trade. The Houston Rockets have long been considered the other team who could potentially sign Harden outright, but an opt-in-and-trade scenario opens up a number of other teams across the league.

James Harden and the Philadelphia 76ers are widely expected to come to terms on a new long-term deal, but there does appear to be some level of negotiation for them to navigate.

The Houston Rockets are the other team considered a serious contender for Harden, but they've begun to signal to other free agents that they don't expect to sign him.

"I think one thing James Harden would like to avoid is a long negotiation period into July," said Adrian Wojnarowski on Wednesday. "The longer you are in talks, the more other options start to dry up for you."

Harden still hasn't exercised his option.

"I think for the Sixers, a lot of this negotiation with James Harden is built around the length of a deal, maybe not so much the annual number as how many years do they want to go with Harden?"

James Harden is expected to re-sign with the Philadelphia 76ers this offseason with the main question centered around the years and money the two sides agree to.

"They have been working hard in recent weeks to make sure that James Harden is going to be in the fold for next season," said Brian Windhorst on Wednesday. "Now, there's only a couple of teams out there that have salary cap space. The only one that makes sense for Harden is the Houston Rockets, which we've known for months. 

"The Rockets are out there, from what I am told, very aggressively chasing other free agents. They are not acting as if they think they're getting James Harden."

Harden re-signed with the Sixers last offseason on a one-plus-one deal worth $68 million.

"He's very likely to opt out of his deal, because he can get up to I think a $13 million raise. He took a pay cut last year. He's in position to get that money back this year. What kind of terms are the Sixers willing to offer him? He's eligible for a four-year contract, but he is 33. I don't know if the Sixers can go there. Does he accept something shorter? Would there be some sort of partial guarantee? I think these have been the center part of the discussions in recent weeks, not necessarily where James Harden is going to be.

"I would never guarantee anything in the modern NBA, but I would be surprised if Harden wasn't a Sixer and locked in the first few days of free agency."

Harden's pay cut last offseason helped the Sixers sign P.J. Tucker

"He took a significant pay cut last year to help the Sixers build up that roster and they did, they signed P.J. Tucker and they traded for DeAnthony Melton. He, frankly, is in kind of in a little bit of a debit based on his production. I expect the Sixers' offer to be considerably higher, whatever number of years it is. The indications are that James Harden is going to remain in Philadelphia."

The recent reporting has strongly suggested James Harden will likely re-sign with the Philadelphia 76ers, but a source close to him tells Sam Amick of The Athletic that the Houston Rockets "remain a serious possibility."

The Rockets are still in play for Harden despite the additions at the draft of Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore.

The Rockets are one of the NBA's youngest teams, but hired Ime Udoka as head coach and are reportedly trying to accelerate their timetable.