NBA Free Agency 2023: 3 landing spots for Fred VanVleet you never thought of

Fred VanVleet is one of the best free agents in this class. While the Raptors seem interested in re-signing him, some very surprising teams could steal him.

Fred VanVleet is one of the best free agents this offseason will have no shortage of suitors. The Raptors seem to want him back but it’s not clear at this point how interested he is in returning versus starting over somewhere else. That means we could land almost everywhere, including some very surprising locations.

Wild-card landing spots for Fred VanVleet: 3. Clippers in a sign and trade

The L.A. Clippers are a very interesting team in the VanVleet sweepstakes. They were interested in trading for the All-Star at the trade deadline and still have the salary to make a sign-and-trade work. They could use two of Marcus Morris, Robert Covington, and Nicolas Batum as the baseline for the trade. They would have to use extra salary in the deal but most of the salary that needs to be matched would already be in those contracts. Additional draft assets or a young player like Bones Hyland could help seal the deal.

The Clippers could use VanVleet due to the fact that this might be the last run for the Paul George and Kawhi Leonard duo. Both of these players have player options after this season and could end up leaving to go to another team. Additionally, the Clippers might decide that is best for the duo to break up due to the fact that both of these players are injury prone.

During this era of Clippers basketball, they have always needed a player who creates offense for the rest of the team. VanVleet could end up being that guy, as well as working as a terrific spot-up shooter around them.