Fred VanVleet agrees to a 4-year $ 85 million deal to stay with the Toronto Raptors

Fred VanVleet has agreed to re-sign a four-year $ 85 million contract with the Toronto Raptors, Parlay Sports & Entertainment agent Brian Jungreis told ESPN.

The deal includes a player option for the final season of the contract, a source that ESPN has confirmed.

VanVleet’s journey to stardom was far from safe as the 6-foot-1 security guard hadn’t left the state of Wichita before the 2016-17 season. Now he has the largest contract in NBA history for an uncovered player, surpassing Wesley Matthews’ four-year $ 70.1 million contract with the Dallas Mavericks in 2015.

On Saturday, VanVleet replied to his own tweet from 2016 saying “Bet on yourself”.

💰💰💰 https://t.co/Py2RbwXPbJ

– Fred VanVleet (@FredVanVleet) November 21, 2020

After signing a $ 1.45 million two-year deal with the Raptors, VanVleet struggled to find consistent minutes behind a backcourt from Kyle Lowry-DeMar DeRozan. After DeRozan was sent to San Antonio two seasons ago as part of the Kawhi Leonard deal, VanVleet helped fill the void.

His real breakout came in this season’s playoffs when VanVleet got hot from the 3-point range late in the Eastern Conference final against the Milwaukee Bucks after the birth of his son.

In the final against the Golden State Warriors, VanVleet shot 40% at 6.7 3-point tries per game to help the Raptors win the franchise’s first NBA championship.

VanVleet carried this momentum into last season and posted average career highs across the board. His 17.6 points per game was the most from an uncovered player since Mike James averaged 20.3 points with Toronto in the 2005-06 season.

In addition to being a sniper, VanVleet averaged 6.6 assists last season and hit the foul line almost four times per game. VanVleet is also a die-hard defender despite its size. At Steals, he finished third in the league with an average of 1.9 per game.