There’s no need to call the cops.
Raptors’ Fred VanVleet says public health more important than a big payday | CBC Sports
But VanVleet said he’s a skeptic. He can’t fathom how the NBA could resume to finish the season. Then again, big-league sport is a powerful entity, and money virtually moves mountains.
“If we’re saying the timeline matters, we’re saying all these certain things and you’re looking around the world at what’s going on with the virus itself, if our league is going to be a leader in terms of public health and player safety, you’ve gotta follow the guidelines of what the virus is speaking to you,” he said. “So the odds are probably against us in terms of that.
“But money, right? So, I think they’ll find a way, they’ll find a way somehow some way, and try to make it happen. But I can definitely see it going either way, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we didn’t come back and I wouldn’t be surprised if we do come back.”
What comes next for Raptors’ free-agent-to-be VanVleet? – TSN.ca
He’s got a lot on his mind these days, as most of us do, and he’s not ashamed to admit that his future – and how it might be impacted by the stoppage in play – is among the things he’s thinking about. While many professional athletes may pretend that their contract situation isn’t on the radar, the always-candid VanVleet has never been that guy.
“Obviously I think about it,” VanVleet said on a conference call Wednesday afternoon. “I’m not one of those guys that tries to give a vanilla answer. Yeah, I think about it. I’m human. I felt like I worked myself into a good position, I was having a hell of a year and I was planning on having a great playoffs to cap that off.
“I think I was in good shape and I think, more so than worry about what woulda, coulda, shoulda happened, it’s like, what’s going to happen? Are they gonna move the dates around? Does free agency move? How does it affect the [salary] cap?”
VanVleet credited commissioner Adam Silver for showing patience, putting the health of players and fans first, and not speculating on how the league will move forward without more concrete information at their disposal. But, until the point when decisions can be made, there will continue to be more questions than answers.
Can the NBA salvage any of the 2019-20 season or playoffs? If so, when and how? If it has to be cancelled – and it’s looking more and more like that will be the case – how will the off-season work? When will free agency – initially scheduled for June 30 – open and, more importantly for teams and players, how much will the league’s lost income impact the market? Those are also things that VanVleet has considered.
“It sucks because guys work their whole lives for this moment,” the Raptors’ point guard said. “But I think that the league and the union will try to do a good job to make sure that the free agents get a fair shake and it’s fair negotiating.”
Raptors’ Fred VanVleet focusing on aiding hometown amid uncertainty – Sportsnet.ca
VanVleet was born and raised in Rockford, Illinois, a mid-sized Midwestern city that had its share of economic challenges long before being slammed by a pandemic.
On that front, VanVleet – who owns a retail business in downtown Rockford – has been spending time since emerging from quarantine in Toronto and heading back home to study what he might be able to do to help those who are going to need it most in his hometown.
“Obviously I own a small business here and I kind of can feel the [economic] impact from that standpoint,” he said. “I have some relatives that work in the healthcare industry [but] I didn’t want to rush home and just throw a bunch of money somewhere just to look good.
“I kind of have been waiting to see what they really need because our needs in Rockford are much different than, say, Toronto … I’ve been in communication with our mayor and some of the officials for the city to just kind of see what is exactly needed and then I will do what I can to help. But … my guys at the shop … they’ve been passing out lunches and trying to help some of the healthcare workers and … taking lunches to people like that so just small things right now and just waiting to see what this thing will look like and what exactly we need.”
VanVleet’s ambitious that way. He wants to help turn Rockford’s fortunes around. He’d likely be in a better position to help if he reached his goals on his next contract, not to mention signing a four- or five-year deal for $80 or $100-million, representing another remarkable chapter in the career of the fourth-year player who went undrafted as a college senior in 2016.
But the events of the past six weeks have put some of those goals in jeopardy.
“… It sucks because guys work their whole lives for this moment [to be in a strong position in free agency], you think about not just myself, you think about a guy like Christian Wood [a fourth-year forward with the Detroit Pistons] who ended up having a helluva year toward the second half of the season and he’s a free agent this summer, so what does that mean for somebody like him?
Charlotte Hornets coach James Borrego says he thinks some players could need ”multiple weeks” to get back into true basketball shape if the NBA decides to return to action this season. The league hasn’t played games in nearly six weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Borrego says unlike when there was a lockout – and players gathered routinely for five-on-five pickup games in gyms – he knows some players who don’t have access to a court to work on basketball-specific drills. The Hornets staff is monitoring players and helping them with their conditioning remotely during the lockdown, but Borrego cautions the league needs to be ”very careful” not to rush back too soon because ”nobody wants to get hurt or injured in this time.”
Borrego says when players return to practice, they’ll be monitored individually by the training staff to determine their physical condition.
NBA players need more than two weeks to return: Chris Paul – Sportstar
On the situation, 10-time All-Star Paul told reporters via a conference call on Wednesday: “I’m just letting you know – and I don’t think the league would do it anyway – but if they were like, ‘Hey, you got two weeks, and then we’re going,’ that’s not going to happen.
“That’s not going to happen. Whatever the amount of time is, just know that players will have the input, the say-so, because we’re the ones playing. That comes first. We don’t ever want to put guys in a situation where their injury risk is higher than ever before.”
Paul, 34, added: “I get what we’re dealing with right now, a lot of hypotheticals, but I don’t know.
“This is the thing with having 450 players in the league and being in a situation like this, where some guys have access to weight rooms, some guys don’t.
“Some guys have access to facilities where they can train or do this or can run. That’s why, whatever happens – and I say this, and I mean this – we always go back to the players.”
“We just want to play,” Paul continued. “We’re trying to figure out what that looks like. Right now, I’m just focused on playing, playing in some form or fashion.
“This is a situation where no one knows. The virus is actually in complete control. I seriously tried to answer things the best I could, but there are things where it’s not like I’ve got the answers and I’m just not telling you.”
8 best ‘one-hit wonders’ in Toronto Raptors franchise history | Offside
8. Hedo Turkoglu (2009-10)
Sharpshooting Turkish forward Hedo Turkoglu was traded to the Raptors as part of a four-team trade in 2009 and would call Toronto home for just one year, as he was dealt to Phoenix the following summer. Starting 69 of 74 games, Turkoglu contributed an average of 11.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 4.1 assists.
7. Charlie Villanueva (2005-06)
A seventh overall draft pick by the Raptors in 2005, Charlie Villanueva lasted just one season in Toronto before being traded to Milwaukee. He put up solid numbers on a poor Raptors team in their first full year without Vince Carter, scoring 13 points per game to go with 6.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists.
