Van Fleet stays in Toronto; Hayward to Charlotte

Fred VanVleet bet on himself. It paid off.

Gordon Hayward, meanwhile, is heading to a new home.

VanVleet agreed Saturday to a four-year, $85 million contract to remain with the Toronto Raptors, a person with direct knowledge of the discussions told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the contract remains unsigned. The fourth year of the contract is at VanVleet’s option.

The Charlotte Hornets have wanted Hayward for years. On Saturday, they finally landed him, according to Priority Sports, the agency that represents the veteran forward. A person with knowledge of the terms, speaking on condition of anonymity because the deal hadn’t been signed, told the AP that Hayward will sign a fouryear contract worth $120 million. ESPN first reported the agreement between Hayward and the Hornets.

VanVleet, the undrafted guard from Wichita State, has played a huge role in the Raptors’ recent successes, most importantly their run to the 2019 NBA championship. He has set career bests in scoring by wide margins in each of the last three seasons, that number rising to 17.6 points per game this past season.

Keeping VanVleet was of major importance to the Raptors, who have won at least 50 games in each of the last five seasons — by far the longest current streak in the NBA. Milwaukee has a two-year such streak, and the reigning NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers reached the 50-win mark last season.

It also fulfilled a VanVleet prophecy: He famously went undrafted four years ago, then passed on some low-money deals that he figured wouldn’t pan into much.

“I turned those down. I bet on myself,” VanVleet told friends and family on what would have been his draft night, a festive occasion that turned disappointing when the call from the NBA never came.

The Raptors brought him in on a summer-league deal, then a minimum deal, then gave him a two-year contract for $18 million two years later – and now gave him the full reward.

Free agency opened in the NBA on Friday evening and VanVleet was one of the top available names. The Lakers’ Anthony Davis remains unsigned though is expected to remain with the defending champions, and Hayward’s future was another of the top questions remaining in the league as Day 2 of free agency began Saturday.

It was not a question for long.

Hayward turned down a $34 million option for this season with Boston, and the Celtics were in talks with other teams – including Indiana, which was believed to be a preference of Hayward’s – on potential sign-and-trade deals.

Instead, it appears the Celtics are seeing Hayward walk away as a free agent.

Hayward agreed to a four-year offer sheet worth about $63 million with the Hornets in 2014, a deal that was matched by the Utah Jazz – Hayward’s original team.

• Elsewhere: Paul Millsap is staying with the Nuggets on a one-year deal that will be worth around $10 million, a person with knowledge told AP. …Priority Sports announced that Bobby Portis, who averaged 10.1 points last season for New York, agreed to a deal with the Bucks. … Dwight Howard became the first announced free-agent signing of this offseason, completing his one-year, $2.6 million deal with Philadelphia. … Rajon Rondo agreed to a two-year deal with the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks also agreed with guard Kris Dunn earlier Saturday on a two-year contract worth $10 million.

ETC.

• Tennis: Instead of No. 1 Novak Djokovic vs. No. 2 Rafael Nadal for the ATP Finals trophy, it'll be No. 3 Dominic Thiem against No. 4 Daniil Medvedev. Nadal had won 71 matches in a row when grabbing the opening set, and he served for the victory in Saturday’s semifinals in London when leading 5-4 in the second set. But Medvedev broke at love there and came all the way back to win 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, claiming the last four games. Thiem frittered away four match points in his semifinal against Djokovic because he was “tight and nervous” during a second-set tiebreaker. Thiem gathered himself, though, and eventually reeled off seven of the match’s last eight points after trailing 4-0 in the last tiebreaker, winning 7-5, 6-7 (10-12), 7-6 (7-5).

Instead of a 57th meeting between Djokovic and Nadal, Thiem and Medvedev will face off for the fifth time. Thiem leads 3-1, including a straight-set victory in the U.S. Open semifinals in September en route to the 27-year-old Austrian’s first Grand Slam championship.

• Soccer: With his team top of the English Premier League, Jose Mourinho enjoyed bragging rights over Pep Guardiola in their longstanding rivalry as Tottenham beat Manchester City 2-0 in the English Premier League. … Yannick Carrasco scored after defensive blunders as Atletico Madrid ended a decade-long winless streak against Barcelona in the Spanish league with a 1-0 victory. … Cristiano Ronaldo continued his scoring streak with another two goals as Juventus won 2-0 against Cagliari to move second in Serie A. …

Benji Michel’s goal in a second penalty shootout and a late save by a reserve defender summoned to play goalie helped send Orlando City into the MLS Eastern Conference semifinals with a wild 1-1 (6-5) victory over NYCFC. … Pedros Santos, Darlington Nagbe and Gyasi Zardes scored and the Columbus Crew beat the New York Red Bulls 3-2 to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals.