The word maximize is a funny word. The most. What is the most? It’s unknowable, really. It seems impossible, especially in the macro sense. Every scenario has infinite possibilities, like the membrane of quantum worlds splitting thinner and thinner with every decision; there are more possible iterations of a chess game than there are atoms in the observable universe, for example. How can making the absolute most of something mean anything when we can’t know how all the other possibilities would have turned out?
Take Fred VanVleet. He’s been maximized for a while, now, if you believe his critics. That’s life for an undersized guard with limited vertical bounce. But what does maximized actually mean in his case? Because VanVleet keeps getting better.
Last year he caught fire from deep halfway through Toronto’s comeback sweep over the Milwaukee Bucks, staying hot enough against the Warriors to earn a Final MVP vote. His explosion was considered by many analysts, particularly those who didn’t follow the team closely all year, to be a fluke. But in reality VanVleet could have had more than one Finals MVP vote, honestly, to reward his incomparable defense against Steph Curry. Let alone the shooting. Which wasn’t a fluke.
Then these playoffs, VanVleet has become Curry himself on the offensive side, as if he absorbed the skills of his vanquished foes like the ancient Aztecs. VanVleet has always been a wonderful shooter. But VanVleet has been even better this year, these playoffs. Curry-ian. (Lillardian, even, which fits with the ‘absorbing defeated foes’ skills’ theory, because at this point, there’s no point guard in the league that VanVleet hasn’t eliminated at least once with his defense.)
Any VanVleet jump-shot has become an optimized offensive outcome for the Raptors. Maximized. Last playoffs, he was limited by size and length of closeouts, particularly by the Philadelphia 76ers. No longer, partially because he’s stretched his range so much further.
So far in the playoffs, VanVleet is averaging 25.3 points per game while shooting 17-of-31 from deep. He’s creating triples against switches, in transition, out of the pick-and-roll. He’s thrown up over 10 a game. VanVleet’s wrist is a torch from the heavens sent to scorch the twine like the roof of a crème brûlée. He won’t always shoot over 50 percent over a stretch of three games, but it’s never out of the realm of possibility, so defenders have to treat his shot as a sure thing. His shot offers maximum danger, and because of that, it opens the rest of his diverse game.
His finishing ability has always been tied to the health of his ankles, back, shoulders, and elbows, and this healthy VanVleet has been unstoppable. So far in the playoffs, he’s shot 64.3 percent at the rim, far better than his in-season 48.5 percent, and in line with superstars like Kawhi Leonard (65 percent), Russell Westbrook (61 percent), or Pascal Siakam (65 percent). VanVleet is starting to make quick decisions. His handle is elite, able to cross over in either direction, step back, and drop almost any defender to the floor. His use of English, body control, and rim-as-shot-protector make his finishes maximally aesthetically pleasing. There’s a reason VanVleet is the face of the AND1 brand.
Beyond his scoring, VanVleet has improved drastically as an initiator. That’s another new development this year; he’s averaging 8.7 assists per game these playoffs. This was perhaps his single biggest weakness as recently as this season before the bubble. VanVleet showed some hesitancy as an on-ball initiator. But that flaw, too, has become an asset for VanVleet. His passing has improved dramatically. The improvement has not come through the complex stuff, but instead through his ability to beat defenses in the simplest way to create the best shot. He can dice a zone without the dribble.
He can also dust most defenders off the dribble, draw a second defender, and kick to open shooters. This is simple, but it’s the lifeblood of modern NBA offenses, and to be a starting-level guard, one has to be able to do this.
Of course, offense is only half of the game. For VanVleet, it’s the lesser half. His defense remains among the best in the league at his position.
He’s small but implacably strong, and he uses his size to his advantage, attacking opponents’ legs from beneath them, keeping them off balance. His hands are mighty mouse-traps, swinging shut on the poor weak spots of opponents’ unsuspecting dribbles. He led the league in deflection this year. He plays off-ball defense like a quantum computer, pre-switching to get himself involved in upcoming ball screen actions, tagging, hitting the nail, and sometimes roaming around and clogging the lane when he recognizes his mark is in a non-threatening position. Through three games of the post-season, he’s been the single most important element of denying Caris LeVert space in the series, holding him to 4-of-15 shooting as the primary defender, according to nba dot com’s matchup data.
Even beyond the many on-court skills, VanVleet is an intangible star. He’s the media star of the team, which may be too insider a thing to say, but he takes the heat from Kyle Lowry and Siakam, both of whom seem to dislike speaking with the press. VanVleet is a wonderful teammate in other ways, helping fellow undrafted guard Terence Davis integrate into the NBA. VanVleet has edge, though, against opponents. For a nice guy, he’s the opposite on the court. Midway through the first half, with the Raptors leading by double digits, VanVleet knocked the ball away from LeVert and clapped in his face, turning to him, letting him know he could not be beaten. VanVleet was acting like a bully, sure, but so too was LeBron James when he repeatedly eviscerated the Raptors in the playoffs. VanVleet is a tormentor, and that too is an important trait if you’re going to win playoff games in the NBA.
“I think Fred is a big-time competitor and he is also a big-time leader,” said Nurse after game three when I asked him if VanVleet delights in stepping on opponents’ throats. “I will give you a good example that kind of points to your question. In the halftime huddle as we were getting ready to go on the floor he grabbed the guys real quick and said, ‘Hey, they are coming out fast and hard and we got to come out faster. We got to come out hard too. Get ready to run with these guys because they are coming out …. he’s coaching that part of the game a little bit and that kind of goes to what you are saying. He wants to compete and he wants to keep everybody sharp and he wants to play to win at all times. The guy is a big time winner, man.”
One of the sub-plots here is that VanVleet isn’t done growing, still isn’t maximized. There’s more to come, in his passing, his finishing, his midrange game. There are universes in which VanVleet continues improving. Perhaps ours is one of those universes. Part of quantum theory is that things can both be and not be at the same time. This, too, applies to VanVleet. He is undersized. But, no, really he isn’t. He went undrafted, but he has belonged in the NBA ever since he stepped foot on a practice court. VanVleet has long been Schrodinger’s player, eternally both maximized and improving.
I’ve written about VanVleet before. A lot, to be honest. I wrote in December of 2018 that he was an elite NBA defender (damn it). Again the Finals last year that he was an elite NBA player (damn it). I spilled Andre 3000 words in November of 2019 predicting that VanVleet would earn over $20M per year on his upcoming contract. Translation: VanVleet has been good. But he’s never been this good for this long a time, which is especially important given he’s doing it in the playoffs. (And before you say these Brooklyn Nets aren’t a playoff team, remember they went 5-3 in the bubble seeding games to rise from the eighth seed to the seventh.)
For the Raptors to defend their championship, VanVleet will need to remain at this level. He has been Toronto’s best player in the bubble. He doesn’t need to be Toronto’s only star, but he does have to be a star. When he detonates drop coverages and dashes inside against switches or hedges, VanVleet is the perfect counter to any defensive strategy. That’s what it is, really, to be a superstar. He just has to keep on keepin’ on.
And so VanVleet just keeps maximizing.
When the Raptors stretched their lead to 20 points halfway through the fourth, the Nets put their bench in the game. They waved the white flag, but VanVleet did not accept the surrender. Before he left, VanVleet drained another 25-foot bomb, just for good measure. It was extremely cruel and unnecessary, but that’s what playoff wins are; you beat them until they want to quit. VanVleet is happy to step on opponents’ throats. The Nets have been stepped on enough, with only one more game to go until the Raps move on. But VanVleet will lead the Raptors into the next series. It’s unknowable, sure, but it’s possible that with VanVleet in the driver’s seat, the Raptors themselves will be maximized going forward.
