Fred VanVleet spoke highly of Nick Nurse, his former head coach in Toronto and now Doc Rivers’ replacement with the 76ers.
With that in mind, could VanVleet be an offseason addition for Philly this summer, and would he present an upgrade over James Harden?
Hugh Douglas and Joe Giglio both say VanVleet would be the better option.
“For me, it’s Fred VanVleet,” Joe said. “He’s younger, I know he’s not as prolific as a stat guy…but I’d rather have VanVleet. I think he’s got more good basketball in him at 28.”
VanVleet could opt out of his player option this summer and become an unrestricted free agent as part of a free agent group that is expected to be one of the weaker ones in recent memory, and both Joe and Hugh say signing VanVleet would be a better move than bringing back Harden, who reportedly will look to return to Houston anyway.
“In this situation, I’d be the same,” Hugh said. “It seems like VanVleet would actually buy into what we’re selling. I don’t see James Harden doing that. If it doesn’t go his way, there’s’ probably gonna be a little bit of pushback.
“We’ve seen harden at his best, and we’ve seen him out there when he’s just chilling, and it’s bad. Talk about Jekyll and Hyde.”