With speculations already swirling around him, Fred VanVleet now stood up to clarify his case.
Right at the postgame of the Toronto Raptors’ Sunday win over the Portland Trail Blazers, VanVleey broke his silence and clarified that there was no offer handed to him by the club, with both sides agreeing to wait for the right time to land an extension.
It was TSN’s Josh Lewenberg who reported last Saturday that VanVleet turned down a four-year $114 million extension from the Raps before this season. As such, Sportsnet’s Michael Grange added further context by noting that the guard and the franchise brass mutually agreed not to land one yet.
VanVleet remains under contract with the Raps based on his four-year, $85 million deal with them back in 2020 offseason. He also has a player option next season worth around $22.8 million in value.
The star guard has a chance to still ink a lucrative deal with the Raptors until the end of the season. He may also opt out of his player option and explore his free-agency status in the market on which team would like to gain him.
As such, VanVleet can only hope that he can elevate his value by aiding the 17-23 Raptors upward from the standings and increasing his 18.6 points production while snapping that inefficient 37.7 percent shooting from the field.
