Fred is a Raptor!

[The Mad Hatter]

Lowry is a scorer. Fred is the ultimate floor general. Give me that all day.

Average assists over the last 7 years (since becoming a starter): 6.7, 6.6, 6.4, 7.4, 6.8, 6.4, 7.0. That puts him in the top 10 in the league 4 of 7 years and top 20 every year. Sure he is more of a scorer first (as he should be with a true shooting percentage that was only bested at the pg position by Isiah Thomas and Steph Curry last year - .625, .624, .623 respectively), but he is hardly a slouch on the floor general front.

Lowry is an all-star caliber point guard and there is no world where Fred is an upgrade at pg over Lowry in Lowry's 14th year in the league vs. Fred's 2nd. But guess what? Given the decade age gap, Lowry continuing with the Raptors has no bearing on Fred's long term position with the team. If you want to have an actually interesting and relevant discussion of the point guard depth in Toronto, it is about Fred vs. Delon Wright, both of whom are talented young point guards who are in direct competition for minutes now and for a larger (potentially starting) role down the line.

[Downtown Shocker Brown]

Average assists over the last 7 years (since becoming a starter): 6.7, 6.6, 6.4, 7.4, 6.8, 6.4, 7.0. That puts him in the top 10 in the league 4 of 7 years and top 20 every year. Sure he is more of a scorer first (as he should be with a true shooting percentage that was only bested at the pg position by Isiah Thomas and Steph Curry last year - .625, .624, .623 respectively), but he is hardly a slouch on the floor general front.

Lowry is an all-star caliber point guard and there is no world where Fred is an upgrade at pg over Lowry in Lowry's 14th year in the league vs. Fred's 2nd. But guess what? Given the decade age gap, Lowry continuing with the Raptors has no bearing on Fred's long term position with the team. If you want to have an actually interesting and relevant discussion of the point guard depth in Toronto, it is about Fred vs. Delon Wright, both of whom are talented young point guards who are in direct competition for minutes now and for a larger (potentially starting) role down the line.

How many teams make the playoffs? It would seem that being a Top 20 PG woukdn't be something celebrated as successful from a playoff contender

[The Mad Hatter]

How many teams make the playoffs? It would seem that being a Top 20 PG woukdn't be something celebrated as successful from a playoff contender

That's not top 20 among point guards, that is top 20 among all players. There are guys like Lebron James and Draymond Green that rack up assists at other positions than point guard. In any case, 16 teams make the playoffs. Over the past 4 years, here are Lowry's assist per game ranks among just point guards: 8, 10, 9, 7. This is while playing in a system that runs iso more than average, asking both him and DeRozan to generate offense for themselves instead of doing as much pick-and-roll for pg assists that other systems emphasize.

Once again, it is true that Lowry is a scoring point guard first, but that doesn't mean that he lacks distribution skills. In any case, the numbers bear out Lowry as a top 10 point guard in the league on assists alone, and that should be his weak point as a scoring oriented player on an iso oriented team. I love Fred, but the notion that somehow Toronto ought to be getting rid of Lowry in favor of playing Fred right now makes no sense. As I said before, what is actually worth considering is how Fred compares to Wright, not to an all-star veteran, because that is the person he is actually fighting for playing time both now and going forward.

[shockmonster]

I think you guys put too much stock in a position. I didn't watch Toronto or the NBA very much, but the guy with the ball in his hands most, when I watched was Rosen. He was the play maker and Fred went to the corner and played off of him. They don't like Fred because he is a point guard, they will use him to complement their team, despite his lack of size, because he is smart, multi-skilled, consistent, and someone who they know what they will get every game. He will never be a star and it probably is between Wright and Fred to make the team, depending on what Toronto does with Joseph.

[Signman]

While Lowry did resign, there are multiple reports out there of the Raptors trading Cory Joseph. That would leave Delon Wright and Fred as #2 & #3 and not necessarily in that order.

Re-sign vs resign. Athletes who renew their contracts re-sign with their teams (note the hyphen). If they were to resign they would do the opposite—leave. Sorry, but I was confused in reading this so had to look up which was right.

[RussDaBus]

Through 3 quarters on NBA tv 11pt 8 ast 2 rb 3 to.

[champions5]

Fred with the bucket and was fouled with 4.5 seconds left in a tie game! FT was good. Toronto up 3.

[shocksrbest]

3 point play puts the Raptors up 3 with 4.5 seconds to go. Typical Fred!!!!

[champions5]

Fred also kept the play alive after the Raptors missed a shot. The shot ends up as the game winner

Fred finishes with 18 points, 9 assists. Announcers praising Fred for his play.

[shocksrbest]

Fred with the game winner

[60Shock]

That's a great game - Way to go, Fred.

[Shocker Mama]

https://www.instagram.com/p/BWQ8n4ajnDJ/

[Anthroshock]

Was at the game today. Fred played like you'd expect him too. Siakam, Poetel an Fred all played like second year veterans.

The almost-play-of-the-game was when Fred crossed over one guy, crossed the next and then got full on, total palm slapped on the block.

Been watching summer league for a few years and Fred looks so much better than the majority of PGs. It's silly.

[homegrownshocker]

That type of play sure looks familiar to me. I think Fred is one of the best pick and roll college players that I have ever watched. He uses the screen and attacks the help defender with tenacious aggression.

[Steeleshocker]

https://youtu.be/fs5EFhceEGM