They say one of the hallmarks of a successful professional sports operation is a healthy and robust level of internal competition. But you’ll excuse Raptors president Masai Ujiri if he’s not exactly celebrating the feistiness of a homegrown adversary named Fred VanVleet. At least not this week.
It’s not just that VanVleet, an unrestricted free agent, has made headlines announcing to the world that he plans to be a ruthless negotiator when NBA free agency opens a week from Friday. Anyone who has paid attention to VanVleet’s rise from undrafted underdog to clutch-shooting linchpin of Toronto’s 2019 championship run knows he is a serious and thoughtful operator, not only a consummate gym rat but a builder of an admirable personal brand.