Former NBA Champion Lauds Toronto Raptors for Giving Fred VanVleet a Chance

What are sports without their heroes and the tales of their heroism? It is because of these rags to riches instances that the NBA especially enjoys a reputation. Now, the league has given birth to yet another story of an underdog success with the rise of Toronto Raptors’ Fred VanVleet. 

The 26-YO recently signed a dreamy deal where he received an assured $85 million, 4-year contract. He also has a final year player option to hit the free agency, just in case he wishes to expand his market value.

While this number might seem small against what the biggies are receiving, Fred’s story makes it every bit special and groundbreaking.

Toronto Raptors’ Fred VanVleet sets a new NBA record

With those numbers and that long a contract, the star point guard now has the largest contract that an undrafted player ever attracted. This news sparked a buzz as former Champion Kendrick Perkins sat for an interview to share his views.

He expressed, “It’s a beautiful thing. You watching a guy who didn’t get drafted on draft night, guys look forward to get drafted, but now Fred VanVleet’s showing the guys that never got drafted especially in this year’s draft, to never give up.

“Much props to Masai Ujury for taking a chance on a guy like Fred VanVleet. Nick Nurse actually given him an opportunity to go out there and prove himself.” 

Back in 2016, a 22-YO Fred, with NBA dreams in his eyes, was waiting for his name to be called during the NBA Drafts. 60 names were announced and none matched the syllables of his name.

Raptors’ G League team then signed him, and his hard work won them the 2016-17 championship. This assured him a place in the Toronto Raptors where he won his first ring as a 25-YO.

What is so impressive about his game?

He has shown tremendous growth ever since he stepped on the NBA scene. He more than doubled his 2017-18 average of 8.6 points to record 17.6 points at 39% from the downtown in 2019-20.

Nick Nurse trusts him so much that Fred got to start all the 54 games he played this season. His pick-and-rolls constituted almost one-third of his total scoring, followed by transition plays and spot-ups.

He is a knockdown shooter who is very capable to score from the perimeter. His size is surely a concern when it comes to finishing at the rim. But those defensive plays from him somewhere fill the gap. Lastly, he has this never-say-die attitude that instills everyone’s faith in his play.

As KP perfectly concluded, “He bet it on himself and I follow him on social media and he always have the emojis of the dice and he’s rolling the dice. Guess what?

“He struck gold man and I’m proud of him because for the simple fact that he came out, he delivered, he is an underrated defender, he could get buckets and this contract is well deserved.”

Are you a VanVleet fan? Let us know in the comments.

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