The Houston Rockets made NBA news headlines early on in free agency after they agreed to a massive deal with Fred VanVleet. The 29-year-old combo guard got himself a huge payday which comes in the form of a three-year, $130 million max deal with his new team.
VanVleet’s departure from the Toronto Raptors has left them with a gaping hole on the court, and Raptors fans aren’t exactly jumping for joy. Apparently, FVV’s exit may have been frowned upon by his teammates as well.
Scottie Barnes Unfollows Now-Ex-Raptors Teammate Fred VanVleet On Instagram
A Twitter detective that goes by the handle @GTJGotNext appears to have unearthed a noteworthy development involving VanVleet and now-ex-teammate Scottie Barnes. Apparently, Scottie unfollowed FVV on Instagram shortly after the latter decided to take his talents to Houston:
It’s been just a few days since Fred signed with Houston, and Scottie has already unfollowed him on IG.
Yikes😬 pic.twitter.com/TK3Wz8nnbc
— . (@GTJGotNext) July 3, 2023
That’s savage. Then again, this could mean anything. In fact, this could be nothing at all.
In a bizarre twist to this narrative, the same source of this tweet also revealed that there appears to have been an unfollow-refollow spree between Barnes and VanVleet:
For those of you saying “Scottie unfollowed him a long time ago”:
Apparently Fred unfollowed the entire team at one point, Scottie un-followed, then Fred followed him again and Scottie didn’t follow back. They’re grown adults and athletes, something definitely went wrong.
— . (@GTJGotNext) July 3, 2023
As a disclaimer, we have no hard evidence that all this is true. Nevertheless, there’s no denying that it makes for a pretty good story.
Did Scottie really take VanVleet’s departure personally? It’s not as if this was a total shock given how Fred was linked to a move away from Toronto long before NBA free agency officially opened.
Raptors’ Outlook In The East After Eventful Offseason
The last time the Milwaukee Bucks and the Toronto Raptors met in the postseason was during the 2019 NBA Playoffs. That year, Toronto eliminated Giannis Antetokounmpo and Co. in the Eastern Conference Finals, 4-2, en route to winning the title that season.
The Raptors are a much different side today. Kawhi Leonard has taken his talents to the Los Angeles Clippers. Scottie Barnes wasn’t even around four years ago. When these two sides meet again this year — be it in the regular season or the playoffs — Toronto will once again have a new look. Fred VanVleet was an internal part of their success, and without him, there’s going to be a big void to fill in the backcourt.
Moreover, there have been rumors of a potential trade for Pascal Siakam. If this happens, then it will pretty much confirm Toronto entering a full rebuild. As such, the Bucks would be the heavy favorites when these two teams match up, and this will likely be the case for the foreseeable future.
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