Raptors guard Van Vleet gets rich trying
Among the half dozen or so children sprinkled throughout the Maple Leaf Sports Launchpad on Friday were probably one or two who dream of someday making it big in basketball.
There are extraordinarily long odds against that ever happening, but not 10 metres away sat living proof that chasing one’s dreams — no matter how farfetched they may be — is a pursuit worth taking, that a belief in oneself can create improbable story lines.
The occasion was the official announcement of Fred Van Vleet’s new two-year, $18-million contract with the Toronto Raptors, and the lesson for the assembled to take away was that dogged perseverance can pay off.
The Van Vleet story is familiar to anyone who has followed the Raptors in recent years. Undrafted out of Wichita State, Van Vleet, from Rockford, Ill., finally got a chance to prove himself as a backup point guard on Toronto’s summer league team in 2016. He wasn’t the biggest nor the quickest nor the most soughtafter player around but, through dint of hard work, he got a training camp invite that fall and he was off and running.
In two seasons Van Vleet made himself into a Raptors regular, a tight-game finisher known for an unwavering work ethic who has the respect of his coaches, teammates, fans and opponents. He now has incredible riches, too.
That cash — about $1.3 million last season, about $8.8 million now — is simply a byproduct.
“I never really put a contract as any of my goals,” he said. “Obviously, that’s an underlying motivation, to be able to take care of your family. Luckily, we play this game or whatever to be able to make this money. But it’s more so about my competitive drive for the game, my love for the game and keep continuing to strive forward. Just being an important, integral part of a team was one of my goals. If you do those things right, a contract comes with it.”
No wonder everyone loves the 24-year-old.
And no wonder the Raptors made him the No. 1 summer priority.
“Going though this process, two things that kept coming up to us was his just absolute desire to win and his ability to continually improve himself, and that comes from within and is something that makes him really special,” Raptors general manager Bobby Webster said.
Getting Van Vleet back in the fold quickly — the deal was consummated in the first few hours of NBA free agency — was the priority for Webster and Raptors president Masai Ujiri.
It also ran counter to prevailing NBA actions this summer,
when many of the top restricted free agents like Van Vleet are still seeking new contracts. With salary cap space at a minimum leaguewide, teams aren’t willing to either bid against themselves for their own free agents or tie up money with offer sheets from other teams.
Webster and Ujiri were decisive, however, and got Van Vleet on what has to be seen as a winwin contract. Van Vleet now has two more years as a well-paid backup to prove himself as eventually an NBA starter, and the Raptors have two seasons with basically the same roster intact to take a run at an NBA championship.
The terms of the deal — years and money — are simply logical.
“There’s always a balance, kind of a scale of length and (salary),” Webster said. “Last year when we re-signed Kyle (Lowry) and Serge (Ibaka) we said, ‘Listen, we’ve got everybody on a similar plan.’ I think that made the most sense for us right now.”
Re-signing Van Vleet pushes the Raptors payroll at the moment to more than $136 million, by far the greatest in franchise history, third among 30 NBA teams and far over the
$123 million luxury tax threshold. But Webster said it won’t preclude the team from making more moves if they are sensible. With the tax bill not set until the end of the coming season, there is time to make financial moves.
Webster said he expects a dead trade market to heat up at least a little bit with every team represented at the summer league in Las Vegas but, realistically, the Raptors have the full 10-man rotation from a team that won 59 games a season ago, and finding upgrades isn’t going to be easy.
“It’s a good problem for coach (Nick) Nurse to have,” the general manager said. “As we discuss things internally, I think that’s the limitation — where are the minutes?”
None of the minutes will be ceded by Van Vleet, who was used in every crucial late-game situation last season, often alongside Lowry and DeMar DeRozan.