Although Fred VanVleet and the Raptors previously agreed to shelve contract extension talks during the season, the two sides appear open to revisiting those discussions after the team’s season is over, according to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports.
VanVleet’s market is cloudier now than it was in the fall, given his struggles this season — his .376 FG% and .328 3PT% are both well below his career averages. Prior to free agency, he was eligible for an extension worth up to about $114M over four years, and he had seemingly outplayed that sort of deal entering this season. Is that still the case?
According to Fischer, people around the league still think VanVleet can get $30-35M per year on his next contract, though it remains to be seen how many years he’ll be offered. As Fischer observes, former Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry signed a three-year, $100M extension with the franchise prior to the 2017-2018 season at age 31 and that contract worked out very well for Toronto — Lowry earned two All-Star nods and won a title during those three years. VanVleet will be 29 when his current contract expires this summer.
If VanVleet and the Raptors don’t agree to an extension by June 30 and he becomes a free agent, look for the Suns and Magic to be among his suitors, league sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic. Orlando may be better positioned than Phoenix to aggressively pursue VanVleet since the Suns don’t currently project to have any cap space.
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