TITLE: Rockets Keep Late-Season Hope Alive for Fred VanVleet; Clippers Lose Derrick Jones Jr. Again; Mavericks Open to Major Roster Moves
SLUG: rockets-vanvleet-update-clippers-jones-sidelined-mavericks-roster-shakeup
CONTENT:
The NBA’s injury report and trade chatter produced several notable developments Monday, highlighted by Houston’s optimism for Fred VanVleet, another knee setback for Derrick Jones Jr. in Los Angeles, and widespread availability of Dallas players as the trade deadline approaches.
Rockets
Point guard Fred VanVleet, who tore the ACL in his right knee during an unofficial preseason minicamp, was initially expected to miss the entire 2025-26 season. According to Marc Stein of The Stein Line, Houston has not ruled out a late-season return. The 31-year-old is reportedly pushing through an aggressive rehabilitation program to give himself a chance to play before the campaign ends.
Clippers
Derrick Jones Jr. has been diagnosed with a Grade II MCL sprain in his right knee, Shams Charania of ESPN reported. The forward had just come back from a similar injury suffered in November and had appeared in only four games since that return. Overall, Jones has played 17 games, averaging a career-high 10.4 points, shooting 40.0 percent from three-point range and recording 1.1 blocks per contest—also a personal best.
Law Murray of The Athletic noted that the Clippers have 20 games remaining before the All-Star break, a span Jones could miss entirely. Los Angeles went 5-12 without him earlier this season.
Mavericks
League sources told Stein that nearly every player on the Dallas Mavericks roster is considered potentially available ahead of the trade deadline, with the exceptions of Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving. Dallas is 13-23 after dropping six of its last eight games, prompting what one source described as a “hard look” at the roster regardless of any developments involving Anthony Davis.
The trade deadline evaluations and injury timelines will continue to shape all three teams as the season moves toward the All-Star break and beyond.
Source: Hoops Wire
