The Houston Rockets made the biggest splash on the first day of NBA free agency, landing point guard Fred VanVleet from the Toronto Raptors. It immediately caught the eyes of everyone on the NBA landscape, including Los Angeles Clippers guard Norman Powell.

According to ESPN's Adrian Wojarowski, Fred Van Vleet and the Rockets agreed to a three-year deal worth $130 million. It's the first max contract that has been agreed upon in 2023 free agency.

Shortly after the signing, Fred VanVleet's former Toronto Raptors teammate Norman Powell took to Instagram to congratulate him on the new deal.

“What's understood don't gotta be explained. Congratulations my brother @fredvanvleet. Run it up!”

Norman Powell and Fred VanVleet played together with the Toronto Raptors for five seasons from 2016 to 2021. The two were instrumental in the Raptors' 2019 playoff run that ended in a championship for Toronto. Kawhi Leonard, who won the 2019 NBA Finals MVP award, left to join the Los Angeles Clippers in free agency later that summer.

Norman Powell saw a career year alongside Fred VanVleet in 2019-20, averaging 16 points on 50 percent shooting from the field and 40 percent from three. Powell was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers during the 2020-21 season and signed a five-year deal with the team, only for them to trade him to the Clippers with Kawhi Leonard a year later.

Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam became the Raptors' leaders as the franchise slowly ushered past the Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Lowry era of basketball. VanVleet was an All-Star in the 2021-22 season, where he averaged 20.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 6.7 assists, and 1.7 steals per game.

With the deal, VanVleet becomes the first player in NBA history to go undrafted and sign a max contract. New Rockets head coach Ime Udoka reportedly really coveted the former Raptors guard, and wanted him as a strong locker room presence as well as a leader for the young corer in Houston.