Fred VanVleet has found himself heavily involved in trade talks amid the Toronto Raptors' middling season and his upcoming foray into free agency after he (expectedly) declines his player option for next season. VanVleet then proceeded to fuel more speculation after he parted ways with Par-Lay Sports & Entertainment, his former agency of representation. But he's not done adding fuel to the fire just yet.
Per Marc Stein, plenty of executives with insider knowledge believe that VanVleet will soon hire Rich Paul's Klutch Sports to represent him.
“The strong expectation in league circles is that Raptors guard Fred VanVleet plans to hire Klutch Sports as his new representation,” Stein wrote.
For years, being a Klutch Sports client instantly linked someone to a move to whichever team LeBron James was playing for. In this case, could such a change in representation for FVV mean a move to the Los Angeles Lakers? That remains unlikely, given the Lakers' lack of trade assets outside of their 2027 and 2029 first-round picks.
Nevertheless, the timing for Fred VanVleet's decision to change agencies is certainly an understandable one, especially when he's at a crossroads in his career. He could be in line for one of the final massive contracts of his career, so it does not come as a surprise that FVV would take the necessary steps to ensure that he lands in as ideal a scenario as possible.
One team that appears to be in hot pursuit of the 28-year old point guard is the Orlando Magic, a team ripe for talent consolidation what with their logjam at the forward positions. The Magic are reportedly interested in making a run for VanVleet in free agency come July. However, it may not take that long until VanVleet changes teams, should the Raptors decide that cashing in on him as a trade asset is what's best for the franchise.
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