Toronto Raptors: 5 takeaways from 2017-18 NBA season
3. Fred VanVleet is a stud point guard
For all of the resources that teams put into evaluating prospects, watching kids play at 14 or sending scouts to Serbia, every single year NBA teams make countless mistakes in drafting players. A Giannis Antetokounmpo falls to 15th, or Donovan Mitchell drops to No. 13.
For the Toronto Raptors, that player who fell was Fred VanVleet. A perennial winner in college with Wichita State, the point guard went undrafted in the 2016 NBA Draft despite being an analytics darling.
More from Toronto Raptors
- NBA Trades: 10 Pascal Siakam deals the Raptors must consider
- Grade the Trade: Warriors become title-favs in proposed deal with Raptors
- NBA Trades: Memphis bolsters their roster in this deal with Toronto
- NBA Trades: This Pelicans-Raptors deal would send a star to the Big Easy
- 3 NBA teams facing do-or-die 2023–2024 seasons
VanVleet signed a short deal in order to bet on himself and parlay that into a significant raise. It worked, because he has worked his way into the Toronto rotation and frequently closed games alongside Kyle Lowry in the backcourt.
Per ESPN’s Real Plus-Minus stat (RPM), VanVleet ranked 26th in the entire league in helping his team win on a per-minute basis. He finished ahead of Kevin Durant, Paul George and Kevin Love, among other stars. VanVleet is clearly not better than those players, but when he is on the court, the Raptors win.
From a G League title last season to 20 minutes per game this year, VanVleet has proven himself a valuable rotation player. The Raptors don’t need him to start, but his versatility to back up Lowry and play alongside him opens up a number of options for the Raptors in lineups and rotations. It was a steal for Toronto as no other team wanted VanVleet. How many wish they could change that decision now?