It was a season of disater for the Toronto Raptors who went into the year with high expectations and when they fell short, they doubled down and failed again but events that were going on behind the scenes may have led to the ultimate demise of the team and are potentially the real reason Fred VanVleet left in free agency
The Toronto Raptors are coming off of a disaster season where they fell well short of expectations after following up their 48-win season with a play-in tournament exit. As the season was unfolding they doubled down and lost more of their assets in the process leading to an already difficult offseason which became even more troublesome when Fred VanVleet walked in free agency and joined the Houston Rockets.
A new article from Sportsnet’s Michael Grange spoke about the troubles the Raptors faced on and off the court last season and many people speculate that it stemmed from veteran players such as Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam directing anger towards Scottie Barnes and Gary Trent Jr. after the two struggled to grow into bigger roles and Nick Nurse could not do enough to rectify these issues.
Who is really to blame for the culture in Toronto’s dressing going south and could this be the real reason Fred VanVleet left for free to join the Houston Rockets?
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0:00 – Overview
0:46 – Michael Grange
2:19 – Locker Rooms
3:45 – Winning Solves Everything
5:04 – Who was in the wrong?
7:00 – Fred VanVleet role
8:43 – The fanbase turned on FVV
9:49 – Is this why Fred left?
11:06 – What this means for the season
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27 Comments
Hey Debbie Downer, Coaches tell the athletes to move on to the next play the past doesn't change the outcome of the future. Move on to the next season the previous season does not predict the next season. Address the team needs and move on. Confidence planning and preparation is what decides success. No one predicted a 48 win season 2 years ago.give the organization the opportunity to fix the flaws. Give the players a chance to exceed our expectations. The key is just have hope and give them the opportunity to get the job done. Chill Debbie Downer your ruining my buzz about the next season.
We will be better without fred,we didnt lose anything that we cant replace.
I can’t wait for FVV to return and get boo’d out the arena. A pathetic selfish player. As for Masai when the fans see a problem and clearly are calling out the player who’s causing it you know you got a problem.
It was Marc Gasol and serge ibaka that really kept this team loose yet hungry and focused, once they left we lost .
Sure an extra $10 mil and an optional 3rd yr helped. But deeper issues are being covered up.
Coach's preference for vets and a short lineup.
Versus management's preference for new roles for Scottie and Koloko. Both struggled in those new roles. So much so that FVV spoke out, not to rush younger player development. Give them time to adjust.
Then there was the issue about the sacrifical player on starting group. Would it be FVV or Anunoby or Trent Jr?
Both Boucher and Precious believed they should be starting vs Koloko. When that failed, Raps got Poetl. From that time, they slowly leveled out. Which players should have had defined roles for line 2? Lots of trial and error with glaring failures.
For whatever reason, lack of bench development and productivity.
Since the championship run in 2019, this current roster does not come close to the talent, depth, yrs of experience, sìze, scoring capabilities. The rebuild experiment has stuttered. So tweak it or remold it or deconstruct. Time will tell.
Stop lying, the team didn’t get worst, stop acting like Fred leaving is going to make the team fall apart
Mike was not an asshole wtf ,its called being super competitive in a mans game,I guess these days he would hurt peoples feelings with his mean words.
So-called leader had power game with young players instead of embracing them and hogged ball and shot bricks with the lowest fg and efficiency to bet on himself for FA. Even if i were them, i wouldnt respect Vanvleet.
he left because he got paid something no other sane team would give him
The Rockets did FVV and the Raps a huge favor. He got his bag and the Team didnt have to face the fans for letting him go. Thanks to Fred for helping bring the LOB to Toronto and grats for cashing in. Time to move on. FVV is no KLOW and the Raps will be back in the hunt again.
Raptors better be better next season without Fred since he was the cancer of this team. Better win 45 + games.
SAME OLD SONG AND DANCE,when someone leaves all the shatter!All this b.s. yet dont hear anything from ANY PLAYER! FVV got a super max,anyone moves on ! Bet raptors are garbage at least next 2 years!
PlaY off team?RAPTORS thats comical,gonna be a few before they sniff play offs!
Nick Nurse publicly calling out the young guys yet not holding his vets Siakam and FVV publicly accountable as well did not contribute. Had Lowry treated FVV the same way as FVV treated the younger players… FVV offense would not develop as he wouldnt be given the ball in many situations. FVV played hero ball way too much to get his empty stats and Nurse was complicit in this. Props to FVV for making his money, but a lot of players would have similar stats if their coaches let them chuck shots like that and played them 40+ minutes a game
Have you seen the recent video with the raptors announcers? They said it looks like the raptors have been planning to put the ball in Scottie’s hands more & essentially make him the point guard. Fred knew about it & there was just a disconnect from then.
This is ridiculous. Fred has always been a good leader. Even days at Wichita State he is even temperament. You Canadians are so soft! He literally fought to get to the position he is and you fans took him for granted.
Man o man, too many Raptor fans are just flat out stupid! The reasons for FVV hate seems to hinge on him not being perfect. Read through the comments below, apparently you're only a leader if you're an elite player and have the numbers to back it up. FVV was not as efficient this year and it seems to be clearer now as to why he took some of those questionable shots during games; the team wasn't listening to him so he took it in his own hands to show them.
I'm totally fine if you don't/didn't like FVV or thought someone else could/would of, done better but who? I think the Raps will sorely miss FVV this year and now they've put themselves in a real bind, if these reports are true. Now that FVV is gone and we'll see about Siakim next, then the team falls to Barnes and the other young players. They better bloody well produce then and not just make the play in tournament, but the actual play offs in like the 5 to 8 seed.
We'll see if Barnes is the super star in waiting most of you think and want him to be, I clearly have my doubts. He was terrible this year and I thought the Raps should have traded his ass away. Well now we're going to see if I was right or wrong. I hope I am wrong about him, time will tell and no more excuses this year.
Nah the real reason Fred left was the money 😂 Let’s not kid ourselves here.
Agree with most of what was said here, but I would add the following. I loved Fred when he was backup to Kyle, but Fred as a lead guard and leader of the team I totally never saw it from my perspective. I never saw Fred as a leader type at all. Ultimately, I blame the entire fiasco on Nick Nurse for many reasons. Nick should have nipped that in the butt before it even became an issue. He overplayed his vets, where as the young guys had no chance to develop under nurse. I for one am glad Fred is gone (especially if what was said is true). For what its worth, its time to unload Spicey P, as I do not see him as a number one option. His contract will handcuff the raptors for years. Back to Fred. Fred needs to remember where he came from….never drafted but he feels the need to be critical of the young guys?! How many times has Fred made poor shot selection this past year, playing selfish ball. He threw up a ton a bricks. Good luck Houston with your new leader.
Dude don’t even start talking about the fans. Every fan base has shitty fans. But when THAT many people hate on you, it’s because there is reason for it. Fred played like ass and took 0 accountability while shifting the blame on the younger guys. Don’t give him a pass. He was toxic af. Good riddance Fred.
That was then, this is now. The team that won the championship doesn’t exist any more. Being a father isn’t the same as being a leader. How you communicate is key. I don’t think Fred had any intention of staying. Move on….
FVV is not a good enough player to be calling other players out …. I don't see Dennis as his replacment … he is a bench player that means he is not the replacement. I don't think they are finished with off-season moves and if Scottie does replace Fred at point guard that could be a huge step up ….
Fred left because of the money
Why don’t you create videos on nba in general and not just raptors? It’s good to talk raptors but you can talk lot more topics and not create repetitive details video after video. Fred left for money. Anyone would have. I would not have because I m loyal to my company.
Locker room problem can be more on nick nurse because his job was to play the young guys and give them minutes. Look yuta and if they played him then the center problem would not have been an issue. Kd recruited yuta to suns. This is a problem with nurse who didn’t pick up the talent. Fred as a leader should also have said these young guys needed more time. Kyle was great. Kyle told pascal how he can improve and pascal came out and said he does it his own way. This was after the Boston series he blew. He has an attitude. He even blew up on nurse. Too many egos are all gone now. We are probably a lot better now. Pascal is the last one left and Masai will trade him asap when there is a good player available.
Whoever takes the job will be better. Leaders bring them along like Kyle did. Never saw Fred give others the trust like he was given. He got to full of himself. And Scotty lost trust in him. Freddy didn't help, he was playing for the bag.
Not everyone expected this team to take a leap. 20 games into the season, it was clear this team was not good. Many in the fanbase are delusional and thought we had a competitive team. It seems that delusional outlook infected the front office too.