Fred VanVleet or Delon Wright; the Future of the Raptors
A great season ended in yet more heartbreak for the Toronto Raptors. Throughout the year they looked like one of the best teams in the NBA, and the best in franchise history. This was the best team in franchise history, aided, in part, to the Bench Mob, led by two guards – Fred VanVleet and Delon Wright. Both players had different paths to the NBA, VanVleet undrafted out of Wichita State in 2016 and Delon Wright, a late first round pick drafted from Utah back in 2015.
VanVleet and Wright both offer interesting scenarios moving forward for the Raptors. Obviously Kyle Lowry isn’t getting any younger, despite playing at an elite level in the 2017-18 season. With the team going through numerous off-season changes following the dismissal of Dwane Casey, trade rumours surrounding Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan will likely dominate headlines in Toronto for the majority of the summer. Let’s look to the future in a positive manner.
Fred and Delon both offer the Raptors considerable upside moving forward, both are relatively young and still moulding their games. But, if we could only pick one of them, who would it be?
Offense
It’s easy to start with offense, and with the way the game is being pushed towards a more perimeter centric style of play, 3-point shooting for any guard becomes a necessity. In Fred VanVleet, the Raptors have a contender for Sixth Man of the Year, who averaged 8.6 PPG off the bench while shooting .41% from downtown. An effective scorer from beyond the arc, as well as driving to the rim, VanVleet is more than comfortable bumping off of larger defenders in his pursuit to the basket. Positioned as a scoring point guard, he can also use his superb court awareness to find runners in a pick-and-roll or kick out to the corners when driving to the rim.
Delon Wright has obviously greatly improved as a scorer this season, excelling at driving to the lane with a shifty Eurostep. He can be an effective scorer in the paint and is able to use his considerable size as a point guard to pull down some offensive boards. Wright is not a remarkable 3 point shooter, but proved to be a lot more consistent, especially in this past season’s new look offense, centered around getting players open looks. Delon has definitely shown the potential to be a stud, possessing an array of offensive weapons, including his improved vision and ability to find players on backdoor cuts and on drives to the rim. Wright’s ability to run the pick-and-roll is an asset too, able to pick out the rolling big or attack the rim himself.
Defense
Defensively, Wright will probably have the edge. His 6’6” height and long arms give him an advantage over smaller point guards, and his ability to garner steals is a coveted attribute for any player. Wright showed numerous times this season that he can break up passes and hit teams on the break. His instincts on the defensive side of the court are his biggest attribute, and his size means he can guard both the 1 and the 2, and even the SF in smaller line-ups.
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While VanVleet doesn’t have the size of Wright, he has the hunger. His pit bull approach is similar to Kyle Lowry, in that he’s always hassling. A lot of his work on defense comes off the ball. A commander of the floor, with an exceptionally high basketball IQ, VanVleet can instruct his teammates on plays and steady the ship. He averaged just under a steal a game for the Raptors this season, but his quick hands can correlate into more steals down the line.