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Fred VanVleet Would Want Two-Year, Max Contract to Lure Him From Raptors, per Report
It may end up taking a lot more than $30 million per season to pry Fred VanVleet away from the Toronto Raptors.
Toronto still remains very much on the table for VanVleet who is now days away from heading into unrestricted free agency, according to Yahoo’s Jake Fischer. The Houston Rockets, however, are preparing to make the 29-year-old point guard a “very competitive deal” should James Harden re-sign with the Philadelphia 76ers, Fischer wrote.
“It would take a maximum contract to ultimately lure VanVleet from Toronto, sources said, which would top out at two years, $80 million,” per Fischer.
The Rockets will head into free agency with over $60 million in cap space, the most in the NBA, and can make it very difficult for Toronto to re-sign VanVleet.
The Raptors will likely need the first year of VanVleet’s contract to be less than $30 million in order to re-sign him and Jakob Poeltl while remaining under the luxury tax threshold. Toronto could make a cost-saving trade involving Gary Trent Jr., Chris Boucher, Otto Porter Jr., or Malachi Flynn, for example, to create a little more wiggle room below the $165 million luxury tax threshold.
Toronto could, in theory, offer VanVleet a max contract of up to five years, $236.6 million this summer. The most any other team could offer him is a four-year deal worth up to $175.4 million.
Further Reading
Gradey Dick Talks Shot Form, NBA Role Models, Darko Rajaković, & More in Raptors Presser
Kansas Coach Bill Self Shares His Thoughts on Gradey Dick's Fit with the Raptors
