Raptors guard Fred VanVleet agrees to two-year deal with Toronto

The start of free agency has brought forth much movement around the league. Many players on the open market are agreeing to new deals. One of those that landed a new contract was veteran guard Fred VanVleet agreeing to a two-year, $18 million deal to return to the Raptors, according to ESPN.

Guard Fred VanVleet, a restricted free agent, will return to the Toronto Raptors after agreeing to a two-year, $18 million deal, according to multiple reports.

This move helps maintain stability for the Raptors with their backcourt. VanVleet is coming off a productive 2017-18 season. He averaged 8.6 points on 42.6 percent shooting from the field and 41.4 percent from beyond the arc. As well as that, he had 3.2 assists in 20.0 minutes per contest in 76 games played.

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This included scoring in double figures 35 times. This includes two 20-point outings with 16 games with five or more assists. It helped put him into contention for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award. Indeed, he was one of the three finalists.

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VanVleet has developed into one of the league most dependable backcourt players off the bench over his first two seasons in the league. The 24-year-old could play a bigger role next season. He showed that he could handle more playing time behind All-Star point guard Kyle Lowry over the next couple of years.

This is the first move that the Raptors have made this offseason. It has kept one of their free agents in place ahead of next season. There had been talks that the team may entertain the possibility of trading one of their stars in the backcourt in either Lowry or DeMar DeRozan.