Wichita State Professional Athletes

Fred VanVleet Is Back — and Houston Looks Like a Problem

Five hundred and thirty-five days is a long time to wait. For Wichita State alum Fred VanVleet, the wait ended Wednesday night at Toyota Center, and he wasted little time reminding the NBA what it had been missing.

VanVleet reclaimed his starting spot for the Houston Rockets in their 2026-27 season opener against the Dallas Mavericks, slotting in alongside Amen Thompson, Kevin Durant, Jabari Smith Jr., and Alperen Sengun. The veteran point guard finished with 6 points, 11 assists, 3 steals, and a blistering +19 plus/minus in 29 minutes — a performance that looked less like a comeback and more like he'd never left. Houston rolled, 128-110.

The early reviews were glowing. Durant spoke openly about how VanVleet's floor-generalship allows everyone on the roster to operate in their natural roles — a dynamic that had been noticeably absent during VanVleet's ACL-induced absence last season. Four-time All-Star Draymond Green also weighed in pre-season, stressing VanVleet's significance to Houston's contender ceiling. The thesis is simple: with VanVleet running traffic, the Rockets are a different team.

He backed it up again Saturday. Against the San Antonio Spurs, VanVleet posted 14 points, 5 assists, and 3 steals in 31 minutes, helping Houston escape with a 114-110 win. The Rockets are off to a 2-0 start — though VanVleet and Steven Adams did sit out a back-to-back game in Atlanta as part of a workload management plan Houston has already put in place for the returning veterans.

The early numbers — and the eye test — suggest the comeback is real.

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Shamet Settling In for Knicks' Title Defense

Landry Shamet, also a Wichita State product, is carving out his role for the New York Knicks as they begin their championship defense. The early going has been mixed but not without promise.

In the Knicks' season-opening loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, Shamet posted 5 points and 4 assists in 24 minutes off the bench, though the night was more notable for a heated on-court exchange involving Shamet, LeBron James, and Joel Embiid that briefly lit up Madison Square Garden. The Knicks dropped that one, 106-100.

Shamet bounced back Friday against the Celtics, contributing 8 points in 21 minutes with a +7 plus/minus in a 103-107 defeat. The losses sting, but the Knicks have publicly identified Shamet as a key piece of their perimeter rotation — one Yahoo Sports piece flagged him as a potential X-factor in New York's bid to repeat. Head coach Mike Brown and Jalen Brunson both spoke about trusting the returning group, Shamet included, to right the ship.

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Porter Logs Early Minutes in Cleveland

Craig Porter Jr. is seeing spot duty for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the early weeks. The Wichita State alum played 7 minutes in a Thursday loss to the 76ers, then logged 5 minutes and contributed 3 points, a block, and a +2 in Cleveland's Saturday win over the Nets, 125-121. Nothing headline-grabbing yet, but Porter is firmly on the roster bubble — and every minute counts.

Fred VanVleet: Triumphant Return in Houston

Wichita State's most prominent NBA export is making noise on two fronts heading into the 2026-27 season — and neither Fred VanVleet nor Landry Shamet is wasting early preseason minutes.

VanVleet delivered the kind of performance that silences roster questions before they get too loud. The Rockets' starting point guard was a standout in Houston's 135-117 win over the Dallas Mavericks during the NBA China Games, a wire-to-wire victory that had VanVleet operating comfortably alongside a star-studded lineup that includes Amen Thompson, Jabari Smith Jr., and Alperen Sengun — the latter of whom racked up a triple-double in just 22 minutes. The win wasn't flawless; 21 turnovers were hard to ignore, and the defense was charitable at best. But VanVleet's return to the floor was the headline.

That return carries extra weight given the conversation swirling around his durability. Sports Illustrated's Rockets coverage flagged a real organizational concern: who starts at point guard if VanVleet misses time? The fact that Houston's writers are already war-gaming backup plans is less an indictment of VanVleet and more a reflection of how central he is to everything the Rockets want to do. When your absence creates a genuine rotation crisis, that's a form of respect.

VanVleet was also confirmed in the Rockets' starting unit for their preseason clash against the Oklahoma City Thunder back at Toyota Center — alongside Amen Thompson, Jabari Smith Jr., and Alperen Sengun — signaling that his China Games stint was no one-off showcase. He's locked in as the unquestioned floor general, and Houston is building around that.

Landry Shamet: Making the Knicks Pay Attention

Over in New York, Landry Shamet is turning preseason minutes into a legitimate roster argument. Sports Illustrated's Knicks coverage framed it plainly: Shamet's hot preseason start is a bigger deal than the casual observer might realize. The subtext is a brewing competition for rotation minutes, with Shamet's play putting direct pressure on Miles McBride's standing in Tom Thibodeau's guard pecking order.

For Shamet, this is familiar territory — a career defined by proving himself in new situations, carving out roles that weren't necessarily handed to him. With the Knicks carrying championship expectations and Thibodeau demanding defensive accountability alongside shooting versatility, Shamet's ability to knock down shots and operate within a structured offense gives him a real pitch. The preseason sample is small, but in a crowded rotation where trust is earned in practice and October exhibitions, early momentum matters.

The Bigger Picture

Two Shockers, two different stakes — VanVleet protecting the role he owns, Shamet hunting the one he wants. Both are doing what Wichita State guards historically do: competing through the noise. With the regular season approaching, the program's NBA footprint remains as relevant as ever.

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