Lakers News: LA Point Guard Target Declines Player Option, Becomes Unrestricted Free Agent
2022 All-Star point guard Fred VanVleet has officially opted out of the final year of his current $22.8 million contract with the Toronto Raptors, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. He will thus reach unrestricted free agency for the first time in his career when the 2023-24 season officially starts on July 1st.
As one of the best free agent point guards on the market, VanVleet has long been floated as a potentially appealing option for your Los Angeles Lakers. Though the team most likely would not sign him outright as a free agent, because that would require relinquishing its qualifying offers on restricted free agents Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura, Los Angeles could add him via a sign-and-trade, ideally in coordination with a sign-and-trade deal for incumbent starting point guard D'Angelo Russell.
The 29-year-old has spent all seven seasons of his career with Toronto, and is one of the few remaining core pieces from the Raptors 2019 title team.
Last season, the 6'1" vet out of Wichita State averaged 19.3 points on .393/.342/.898 shooting splits, 7.2 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 1.8 steals a night. It should be noted that VanVleet's field goal and three-point shooting took a bit of a dip from his career numbers, and it's not clear if this is going to be a trend moving forward, given that small guards generally do not age well, or a bit of an anomaly during a tumultuous 41-41 season for the Raptors, where the team as a whole regressed from an encouraging 2021-22 run, and seemed to tune out now-ex-head coach Nick Nurse.
Still, VanVleet is a solid two-way guard who can create off the dribble and be counted on to nail jumpers off the catch, still near the prime of his career for now, and would represent a significant upgrade over D'Angelo Russell, without rocking the boat when it comes to touches the way James Harden or Kyrie Irving would. He also wouldn't provide the off-court headaches that Irving tends to enjoy cultivating in all of his NBA stops. VanVleet would be the kind of sensible roster upgrade that might not break the bank for LA, while still helping significantly push the team up a rung in a competitive West.
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