The Toronto Raptors have had a very up-and-down season thus far. One player in particular who’s struggled to find consistency this season is Fred VanVleet. Fresh off signing a four-year, $85M contract, he is currently averaging 19.4 points per game this season.
Although the stat line looks good, he is currently shooting 39% from the field which is his lowest percentage since his rookie season. He’s also shooting a career-low 36% from 3.
When the Raptors re-signed VanVleet, the expectations were that he would become the heir apparent to Kyle Lowry and completely take over point guard duties. Though this is still likely the plan, the Raptors made an odd decision that seems to refute this when they took point guard Malachi Flynn with the 29th pick in the 2020 draft.
Though VanVleet is likely to become the team’s lead guard, perhaps his current skill set will serve him best as the team’s two-guard going forward.
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Fred VanVleet explains why he doesn't plan on changing his aggressive style of play. pic.twitter.com/18NCq12Nt5
Toronto Raptors: Fred VanVleet is better off at shooting guard
To simply put, if VanVleet is set to be the team’s franchise point guard for the foreseeable future, he’s going to need to improve his game in a big way. Luckily, VanVleet has had the benefit of learning from Lowry for the past 5 years.
It starts off with VanVleet’s playmaking. Unlike Lowry, who you can count on to make the tough passes to make his teammates better, VanVleet simply hasn’t shown that he’s capable to make these same passes.
VanVleet can make the simple passes when his teammates are open and within sight, but don’t expect him to make the crazy thread-the-needle passes that the elite point guards are capable of making.
VanVleet has a tendency of over-dribbling the ball and taking precious time off the shot clock, only to chuck up a bad shot. This leads to him missing easy passes to his teammates for open looks.
VanVleet is a shooting guard in a point guard’s body
VanVleet’s game serves him best as a shooting guard. Typically, point guards who aren’t great playmakers make up for it with their ability to put the ball in the basket. VanVleet’s offense is one-dimensional.
He’s struggled mightily finishing at the rim throughout his career and isn’t someone you should count on to create his own shot in the clutch. In such a guard-driven league you’d like to see your point guard develop these traits.
He’s never been a guy you put on an island and just let him go to work. What VanVleet is best at is playing off-ball. He’s shooting 40% from 3-point range on catch-and-shoot opportunities, and it’s where he’s at his best on offense. Pairing a better playmaker next to VanVleet opens up the offense and hides some of the weaknesses VanVleet has on offense.
The potential 2021-2022 starting lineup
Assuming that the Raptors bring everybody back other than Lowry, and don’t add any starters in the draft or free agency, the ideal lineup would be Malachi Flynn, VanVleet, OG Anunoby, Pascal Siakam, and Khem Birch.
In this scenario, Flynn becomes the team starting point guard, while Gary Trent Jr. remains on the bench. Flynn had an awful start to his rookie season, but has seemed to find his footing since. In his last 10 games, Flynn has improved his shooting and distribution ability.
Flynn has shown the ability to create his own shot and has already shown that he’s a similar playmaker to VanVleet. Given that it’s just his rookie season, Flynn will only get better in these areas going into his second season with a full off-season.
Unfortunately, this leaves the odd man out in Trent. He’s been incredibly bad off the bench on the Raptors. In his 2 games off the bench for Toronto, he’s averaging 4.5 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 0 APG on an awful 23.5% from the field.
However, this is too small of a sample size to make judgments on. He’s historically been a streaky shooter throughout his career. If he stays healthy and continues to develop, he could be the Raptors version of Jordan Clarkson.
VanVleet would be back in his ideal role as an off-ball guard, which will help him become a 20-point scorer every night for the Toronto Raptors.