Multiple teams have "significant offers" to pry VanVleet away from Raptors: report
Nobody really knows what will happen to the Toronto Raptors over the next two weeks, but at least one NBA insider feels that the team will be losing one of their staple pieces.
Action Network’s Matt Moore told Sportsnet’s JD Bunkis on Fan 590 that he would be “surprised” to see point guard Fred VanVleet return to the Raptors for next season.
“I would be pretty surprised at this point given what I’ve heard if Fred VanVleet were to return given that he’s got pretty significant offers,” Moore said. “He’s very, very desired on the market.”
On June 12, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski announced that VanVleet would be declining his $22.8 million player option for next season as he’s set to hit unrestricted free agency this summer. The reported offers could include either signing VanVleet straight up or workshopping with the Raptors on a sign-and-trade to find a new deal.
VanVleet originally signed the contract back in 2020, a four-year deal worth $80 million that was the largest contract ever signed by an undrafted player in league history.
Signing with Toronto as a free agent out of Wichita State in 2016, VanVleet has spent his entire career with the Raptors. He was a pivotal piece off the bench during Toronto’s championship run back in 2019 and has since risen to the role of conducting the team’s offence over the past two seasons following the departure of Kyle Lowry.
VanVleet averaged 19.3 points, 7.2 assists, and 4.1 rebounds in 69 games this past season, shooting 39.3% from the field and 34.2% from three-point range. He was named to the All-Star team for the first time in his career in 2021-22, though he was unable to repeat that honour in 2022-23.
“This franchise gave me a chance, you know what I mean? I’m in the NBA because they believed in me; that’s something that I don’t take for granted, don’t take lightly,” VanVleet said of his time in Toronto at his end-of-season press conference.
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