It is with a calm and reasoned and realistic eye that Fred VanVleet views the world, his craft and his place in both.
There is a measure of maturity to the 26-year-old Raptors guard that might catch you off guard if it hasn’t been the way he’s comported himself ever since he arrived in the NBA as an unproven, undrafted, undersized guard who paid no attention to the laundry list of things he supposedly couldn’t do.
And now, with a payday of unimaginable value hanging in the balance once his livelihood returns, the NBA free-agent-to-be remains very much grounded.