VanVleet wins competition for Raptors’ final roster spot
The Toronto Raptors have filled out the end of their roster for now with an undrafted yet promising point guard who could very well spend as much time at Mississauga’s Hershey Center as he does the Air Canada Centre.
Fred VanVleet, impressive in stints during the NBA exhibition season, won the right to fill the 15th Raptors roster spot.
Toronto has asked waivers on camp invitees Brady Heslip, Drew Crawford, Jarrod Uthoff, E.J. Singler and Yanick Moreira, leaving the final roster spot for VanVleet, the four-year collegian from Wichita State who went undrafted last June.
It’s likely Heslip, Uthoff and Singler will join Toronto’s D-League affiliate. Crawford is a free agent and will seek other chances, while Moreira’s future is up in the air.
VanVleet is a nice story and he will get a contract worth about $550,000 should he last an entire NBA season, but of far more concern for Toronto is the prospect of a third of the presumptive nine-man rotation limping into Wednesday’s start of the regular season, if they are able to play at all.
Coach Dwane Casey said Friday it is unlikely that Jared Sullinger will be able to open the season because of nagging foot soreness; Terrence Ross, coming back from a knee injury, played only 10 minutes in Fri- day’s exhibition season finale; and Lucas Nogueira limped off the court with a sprained left ankle.
There was no update on any of the injured Raptors on Saturday but if none are able to start the season at full strength, it opens the possibility that two rookies — Pascal Siakam and Jakob Poeltl — will be in the regular rotation, hardly an optimum situation for Casey. Throwing firstyear players into the cauldron of the NBA regular season right off the bat is fraught with peril and Siakam’s energetic style and Poeltl’s savvy will be tested against legitimate NBA talent in games that matter.
At the other end of the roster, how long VanVleet lasts or how much he is used is uncertain. Delon Wright, sidelined after shoulder surgery but with two guaranteed years left on his rookie scale contract, is due back in December and there’s no reason to think he won’t reclaim the third point guard role he had last season.
Whether the Raptors decide then to keep the six-foot VanVleet for the rest of the season is impossible to know; a fourth point guard is a luxury few NBA teams enjoy and there could be more pressing roster needs.
And the simple fact is third point guards seldom play. Wright, for instance, played about 41minutes total in the first 41 games last season and spent practice time and game time with the Raptors 905 D-League team, a fate that presumably will be VanVleet’s as well.
But VanVleet will make NBA money, which is good for him, and he will have a chance every now and then to impress other teams that might be looking for help in the future.