The struggles of star point guard Fred VanVleet have made the Toronto Raptors’ fanbase an incredibly polarized one this season. Half of the fans will drive him to the airport to get him away from the team, while the other segment (and some in the media) hopes he’ll get back on track before the deadline by shooting his way out of this slump.
VanVleet has shot under 38% for the season, but he’s compounded his struggles by dominating the ball and chucking up ill-advised 3-pointers. Those shots are a huge reason why the Raptors have one of the worst half-court offenses in the entire league.
Playing against the moribund Charlotte Hornets allowed Toronto to experiment with new ways of generating offense. The Raptors let Pascal Siakam and Scottie Barnes carry the load while VanVleet was in a pass-first playmaker mode all night. The early returns on this style seem promising.
VanVleet took just eight shots in 34 minutes, making four of them and nailing a clutch 3-pointer late in the victory. When VanVleet has a usage rate of 15.7 or below, like he did before Siakam got hurt, the Raptors are an above .500 team. Whenever he shoots more, he makes fewer shots, all while sabotaging his assist numbers.
More importantly, the team looks horrendous.
Fred VanVleet in 6 games before Siakam's injury (5-4):
— Keerthika Uthayakumar (@keerthikau) January 13, 2023
11.2 FGA, 37.8 3P%, 7.7 AST & 15.7 USG%
In 7 GP w/o Siakam (5-5):
19.4 FGA, 36.8 3P%, 6.0 AST & 26.1 USG%
His next 18 (6-14):
16.1 FGA, 29.1 3P%, 5.8 AST & 23.0 USG%
Last 3 (3-0):
10.0 FGA, 38.9 3P%, 7.7 AST & 14.6 USG%
The Toronto Raptors need Fred VanVleet to shoot less.
The Raptors need to make sure that Siakam has the ball in his hands constantly, Barnes is an effective scorer at the rim, and Gary Trent Jr. can get up a half-dozen 3-pointers every game. They can’t do that when VanVleet is shooting 3-pointers from the press box.
Irrespective of what happens in the win-loss column for the remainder of the year, Toronto needs to make sure that Barnes is in a better place from a developmental point of view than he was when the season started offensively. There can be no more games where he has four shots entering the fourth quarter and had to watch VanVleet launch 10 triples.
While VanVleet’s offense has been questioned, no one has ever implied that he can’t be an effective defender, rebounder for a guard his size, and leader. Initiating the team’s offense as the primary distributor makes more sense turning Barnes into a screener and Siakam into the second option.
Fred VanVleet shares his perspective on how and why the game is changing.
— TheOldMan&TheThree (@OldManAndThree) January 6, 2023
Full episode with @jj_redick and @talter: https://t.co/zKLN5dWEyj pic.twitter.com/aVAakh4AHS
The Raptors have played the league’s worst bench in the Trail Blazers and took home consecutive wins against the lowly Hornets in the last few games, but they’ve still found some lineup combinations that work. VanVleet is a more efficient, effective player when his shot attempts are limited. Hopefully, the team realizes this.