Fred VanVleet is Making Defences Pay From Way Downtown

The Toronto Raptors have become an even more deadly 3-point shooting team thanks to Fred VanVleet's extended range

At 6-foot-1, 197-pounds, nothing about Fred VanVleet screams NBA star.

The Toronto Raptors guard isn't supposed to be able to do the things he's done on an NBA court. He's supposed to be too short and too unathletic to make it in a league full of the tallest and strongest men in the world. At times in his career, it's looked like his career would be capped at a rotation-level player. It wasn't long ago the Philadelphia 76ers ran him off the court because he was too short to get his shot off in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. But instead of letting his physical limitations lead to his demise, VanVleet adapted.

Shortly after that 2019 playoff series against the 76ers, VanVleet decided he needed to start extending his range. He had had so much trouble getting 3s off in that series that he decided to try moving further from the line to force opposing defences to stretch outside in order to defend him.

"It probably came a little bit out of necessity," Raptors coach Nick Nurse said back in August 2020. "He was not getting shots off, he was getting a few blocked and we needed him. We needed his spacing and his 3-point shooting so we just decided, well, if he backed up maybe five feet, maybe they wouldn’t be able to get to him as quick and he went to work on it."

Last season, VanVleet took 92 shots from at least 27 feet away from the rim, nailing 33 of them at a 35.9% clip.

Fred VanVleet's 2019-20 3-point shooting from 27 feet away from the rim / NBA Stats

"If you can knock it down from distance, it just makes it that much harder for the defense to run out to you, and sometimes you catch 'em off guard or you just avoid that extra couple inches of hand to contest," VanVleet said last summer. "So just trying to find good looks, and I felt like I worked myself into good position where I feel comfortable at that distance, and kinda anything to get my shot off at this point."

This season, VanVleet's deep 3-point shooting has gotten even better. He's taken that same shot 53 times through 21 games this season, nailing 21 of those deep 3-pointers at a 39.6% clip.

Fred VanVleet's 2020-21 3-point shooting from 27 feet away from the rim / NBA Stats

What's more interesting is VanVleet is actually shooting better on 3-pointers from 27 feet out than he is on 3s closer than 27 feet from the rim. On those closer shots, he's only shooting 37.8% on 135 3-point attempts, and on the very closest 3-pointers from 24 feet away, he's only shooting 32.5% on 40 attempts.

Right now he's putting opposing defences into a bit of a bind. They're forced to choose between giving up a 27 footer or surrendering something a little easier at the rim. So far in VanVleet's career, that's been a fairly easy decision, but if he continues to connect on those deep 3s at a 40% clip, opposing teams are going to have to adapt.

Further Reading

Fred VanVleet becomes most efficient 50-point scorer in NBA history

Kyle Lowry's leadership was on full display Tuesday night against the Magic

Yuta Watanabe is making the most out of his Raptors opportunity