Raptors Going Over Options with Fred VanVleet: Will Get Some Time Off in Final 10 Games

The Toronto Raptors are going over their options with Fred VanVleet who will not play in all of Toronto's final 10 games

Aaron Rose | Mar 23, 2022

Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

Fred VanVleet is going to get some rest.

It's a tricky situation for the Toronto Raptors right now who sit just one game back of the Cleveland Cavaliers for the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference but have an ailing VanVleet fighting through knee soreness. No decision has yet to be made on how much to play VanVleet and when to give him time off, but it's clear he will get some time off in Toronto's final 10 games, Raptors coach Nick Nurse said.

The decision will come down in part to how VanVleet is feeling, Nurse said. He, the coaching staff, the front office, and the team doctors are in regular communication on the topic and have been mapping out different scenarios, likely based on how VanVleet is feeling and how the team is playing.

"It's just one of those things that, like, you lay out the plan, and then the second you do it, something happens where you're crumpling that plan up," Nurse said. "I don't see it as critical because usually there's a bump in the road that changes that somehow."

Ultimately, Nurse said, if it's a close call, he'll make the final decision on when to play VanVleet who hasn't looked quite right since the All-Star break.

Thursday night's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers could alter Toronto's plans with VanVleet. Should the Raptors lose, the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference would become nearly out of reach, giving Toronto a little bit more leeway to rest VanVleet ahead of the play-in tournament.

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