#fred-vanvleet

#fred-vanvleet

Fred VanVleet and the Toronto Raptors were the only team in the Atlantic Division that did not make it to the postseason this year.Even after trading Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, the Brooklyn Nets managed to make it into the first round of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.Brooklyn landed two long-term fixtures with Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson in the Durant trade, but the flaws in their roster started to show during their sweep at the hands of the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Toronto Raptors might be in the market for a cheaper shooting guard this offseason, as Gary Trent Jr. could be on the move.While he did struggle during the last few stretches of the season, Trent still provides a ton of traits that are in short supply on this team.Trent averaged 17.4 points per game while providing more turnover generation on defense and an above-average 3-point shot that teams need to respect with a great degree of earnestness.

The Toronto Raptors are going to be connected to many of the hottest names on the traded market, with the need to improve immediately becoming a necessity.OG Anunoby has been thrown back in the rumor mill, as Toronto is likely going to look for ways to recoup draft picks.Toronto might need to get the Portland Trail Blazers back on the horn.

The Toronto Raptors' disappointing tailspin doesn't end anytime soon.They have a big offseason ahead of them with a vacant head coaching position, a lottery selection to make, and free agency to improve upon their lackluster season.Coming into the season, Toronto knew they had two key rotation players about to hit free agency with Gary Trent Jr. and Fred VanVleet expected to decline their player options and receive big paydays.

The Toronto Raptors have barely gotten out of the starting blocks in the 2023 offseason, and they were already dealt a major kick in the butt when Ime Udoka chose to leave them at the altar.After many expected him to join Toronto as Nick Nurse's replacement, Udoka bolted for the Houston Rockets.While there are some doubts about Toronto's direction, what is inarguable is that they are more well-equipped to win in 2023 than the Rockets, who are currently hoping the ping pong balls give them a shot at Victor Wembanyama.

The Toronto Raptors will need to ensure that their 2023 Draft Class produces a winner on the court and leader off it that can help guide this team for the next half-decade, at least.That sounds like a tall order, but that is also how dire things have gotten for this squad lately.While the Big East looks like a conference that could produce a standout player for the Raptors to select, they would be foolish to turn down the Big 12.

It's really difficult to create layups and dunks in the halfcourt.There's a reason the most desirable players in the sport are those who can create looks at the rim, either to score or force the haphazard collapse from the defense to create opportunities elsewhere.The Raptors are still a bottom-five offense in the halfcourt, so they need to create easy looks as often as possible.

The hardest and final task of the four-game homestand is coming up tonight as the Raptors will take on the Miami Heat.Toronto leads the season series two to one and will look to make it three one after tonight.It's a huge game that the Raptors must win if they plan on catching the Heat, who are only three games ahead.

There's a scene in the 1997 movie Armageddon - one of the worst movies ever made, but maybe also the single best bad movie ever made? - where, as our heroes prepare to launch into space so they can go drill a hole in an asteroid, the NASA flight director says to all those assembled, "All right ladies and gentlemen, it's pucker time."

The Raptors have a huge game coming up tonight as they can further separate themselves from the Washington Wizards who are also eyeing a Play-In spot.It's the tie-breaking game for the series this season as they previously traded wins three weeks ago.Wizards scope (33-41, 11th in East | Offensive rating: 16th | Defensive rating: 21st) Last five games: vs Spurs 136-124 W, vs Nuggets 104-118 L, @ Magic 112-122 L, vs Kings 118-132 L, @ Cavaliers 94- 117 L.
Just a few weeks ago the Wizards and Raptors were fighting each other for a Play-In spot and now Washington has fallen off quite hard.

Despite the divide (or chasm) that has developed between fans opinions on Fred VanVleet, there's no denying that his past couple months of play have been significantly better than his first couple.Coinciding with VanVleet's resurgence, was a dip from Pascal Siakam.The Raptors offense hasn't hit a peak this season.

After a crushing loss to the Indiana Pacers last game, hopefully it was the final wake up call that Toronto needs in order to truly lock in for this final stretch of games.The Detroit Pistons who are notorious for giving Toronto trouble in the past are coming to Scotiabank tonight and Toronto simply can't afford to drop games like this, this late in the season.

In the late 19th century, two men raced to discover as many fossils as possible, and to put them together in recreation of as many dinosaurs as they could.O.C. Marsh and Edward Drinker Cope despised one another, and they went to great lengths in their competition, including destroying fossils and putting bones together in ways that never actually happened.

Before Toronto Raptors point guard Fred VanVleet unleashed the NBA equivalent of a fire and brimstone rant against Ben Taylor, most Raptors fans would have known the official as another generic NPC floating in the background.After it, he became Public Enemy No. 1 in Toronto.Not only did VanVleet bring out some of George Carlin's Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television to tear into Taylor after a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, but he implied that Taylor has been singling him out and calling more technical fouls on him during their games.

The seemingly season-long quest for a top-8 seed is reaching its (exciting?)conclusion as the Raptors have pulled even with the Atlanta Hawks.Toronto continued their charge toward the postseason with a wire-to-wire victory over the visiting Washington Wizards.Toronto was led by O.G. Anunoby, who finished with 29 points, 8 rebounds, 4 triples, 3 blocks, 1 steal and was a game-high +29.

On February,28th, former Washington Wizard Will Barton signed with the Toronto Raptor after a disappointing season with Washington.Toronto has been plagued by subpar play at the guard position for most of the season, and instead of allowing Jeff Dowtin Jr. to shore up the backup point guard role, they decided to go with Barton and it has had disappointing results.

The Milwaukee Bucks have the best record in the league, and they showed us why tonight, by dispatching the Toronto Raptors tonight behind a barrage of three-pointers and a monster fourth-quarter effort.The Bucks won the final quarter 29-16, led by Brook Lopez, who scored 17(!) in the frame.The Raptors, trying to coax something out of their bench, started the period 1-for-11 from the floor as the Bucks quickly erased a 6-point deficit and rolled the rest of the way.