"He's become a Kyle Lowry," Detroit Pistons head coach Dwane Casey said of Fred VanVleet ahead of Friday's matchup against his former team. "He's a clone of Kyle."
And that's saying something because not many would know as well as Casey.
Serving as head coach of the Toronto Raptors from 2011 to 2018, Casey watched Lowry grow right before his eyes after the franchise traded for him back in 2012. He was also a part of the earlier stages of VanVleet's career, watching him develop from undrafted G Leaguer to a Sixth Man of the Year finalist in his first two NBA seasons.
Fast forward four years and VanVleet is following Lowry's lead, taking over as the captain, floor general and heartbeat of the Raptors in a way that must make his mentor proud.
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When Lowry elected to take his talents to the Miami Heat this offseason, VanVleet was well aware of the big shoes he had to fill. "We’ll try to pick up the slack that he left behind, the greatest Raptor to do it,” VanVleet stated ahead of the season. And to this point of the season, he's filled the greatest-Raptor-of-all-time void in a way that no one else could have ever done.
VanVleet is playing the best basketball of his career when the franchise needed it most, averaging 21.9 points, 6.7 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game while shooting 43.3 percent from the field and 40.7 percent from 3. His per-game points, assists, rebounds and field goal percentage are all career-best marks, while his 3-point shooting is the second-highest of his career (but on three times the number of attempts per game compared to his career-best percentage).
His 38.0 minutes played per game leads the entire NBA and he has the Raptors in the mix for a playoff spot in a season that many saw as a "re-tooling" year.
MORE: Lowry (personal reasons) out Monday vs. Raptors
Over the last month, in particular, VanVleet has really turned things up a notch.
He has six 30-point games over that span, which is particularly impressive when you consider he had 10 30-point games for his career heading into this season. Just this past week, he had the first triple-double of his career, exploding for 37 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a statement win over the Utah Jazz. He joined two other Raptors legends, Vince Carter and Damon Stoudemire, as the only players in franchise history to record a 30-point triple-double.
Want to guess who the first person to take to social media to congratulate him was? Lowry, of course.
@FredVanVleet triple double!! About time !! Lol congrats !!! #NBAAllStar
— Kyle Lowry (@Klow7) January 8, 2022
VanVleet is making an undeniable case to be a first-time All-Star, which, believe it or not, puts him slightly ahead of schedule compared to his predecessor.
VanVleet is 27 years old, in the sixth year of his NBA career. Lowry didn't receive his first All-Star bid until he was 28, during the eighth year of his career. But after that first bid for Lowry, he rattled off five-straight appearances in the All-Star Game. Who's to say VanVleet can't do the same? He has improved every single year of his career and he's following Lowry's footsteps as a vocal leader to keep that Raptors culture instilled in this roster.
"I'm a stickler, I'm a jerk, I'm that old angry man, if you can believe that at 27, for this team," VanVleet said earlier this year on his new role as a captain. "I'm kind of the guy that's barking all day. These guys are playing their butts off, and they're playing hard. And we're flying around, and we got to keep it going.
"... As a point guard, you try to just instill that mentality and your personality on the team. ... It's been easy for me this year."
Other players are taking notice, too.
Take Jonas Valanciunas, for example, who played six and a half seasons with the Raptors, three of which were alongside a Lowry-VanVleet backcourt. After Toronto's recent meeting with Valanciunas' New Orleans Pelicans, he preached about how he can see VanVleet filling Lowry's shoes.
"(VanVleet) took Kyle Lowry's spot now. He's a captain, court captain," Valanciunas said. "I think he's playing at an All-Star level. He's proved that he can be a leader, on the court and off the court. He's a vocal leader. I remember him when I was with (the) Raptors, he was starting to (become a) vocal leader. Right now he has that freedom and I think he's a really smart guy who can lead by example."
Lowry gave VanVleet the blueprint. So far, he's followed it perfectly.
If VanVleet continues to trail Lowry's footsteps, his former head coach Casey believes he could have a similar destiny ahead of him in terms of his standing in Raptors franchise history.
"When they build a statue of Kyle out there, the other statue will (eventually) be of Fred on the other side," Casey stated. "They're like twins. He learned a lot from Kyle and he's reaping the benefits of it."
That's high praise and it may seem premature, but at this rate, it's fair to say that VanVleet is on track.
With one NBA championship already under his belt in Toronto and the first of what could be multiple All-Star bids ahead of him this year, the Raptors franchise is in good hands even after losing a leader like Lowry because VanVleet has been able to fill that role so seamlessly.
Kyle Lowry passed the torch, now Fred VanVleet will carry it to keep the Raptors competitive for years to come.
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