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TSN Raptors Reporter

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TORONTO - It was 2 a.m. - early Saturday morning or, for Fred VanVleet, late Friday night - when the newest Toronto Raptor finally got the news he had been dreaming of, not just for the past three weeks but for most of his life.

The team had just returned to Toronto after closing the preseason with an ugly loss in Washington. Head coach Dwane Casey and general manager Jeff Weltman met with each of the six players that had attended training camp on partially guaranteed deals, but only one of them left smiling.

VanVleet was an NBA player.

After a month-long audition, the Raptors had chosen the undrafted point guard to fill out their regular- season roster.

"I'm trying to stay in the moment," said the even-keeled 22-year-old. "I'm humbled for the opportunity obviously and just so grateful, but you work your whole life up until this point and you realize that it's just the beginning and you've got so much more to do."

The celebration was pretty tame, as far as celebrations go. VanVleet isn't an outwardly emotional young man. He's stoic and self-aware - pretty good qualities for a young point guard to have. Still, given the late hour and the special moment, sleep was out of the question.

"I definitely stayed up all night," he admitted. "Between talking to my family and just being excited and not being able to go back to sleep."

First, he sent a text to his mom, who had stayed up in anticipation of the news. He waited until he was able to find a spot with Wi-Fi to call her and the rest of his family. "I don't have the best international plan yet," the Illinois native joked.

That feeling - hearing that he made an NBA team and being able to share it with those closest to him - was something he had hoped to experience back in June. Alas, the draft came and went. Sixty names were called and VanVleet's wasn't one of them. The snub was not exactly a surprise. He knows what he is. He's undersized at 6-feet, 195 pounds. He's an older rookie, having played four years at Wichita State. He's not the quickest, flashiest or the most athletic.

Not being selected may have been a blessing in disguise. Masai Ujiri and the Raptors had worked VanVleet out earlier in the month and were impressed. The qualities he does possess are things they look for and value highly - poise, toughness, tenacity and a defence-first approach. He seemed to fit the organization and its culture like a glove. The call to his agent was one of the first they made after the draft. He would be invited to play for Toronto in the Las Vegas Summer League and then, shortly after that, to join them in training camp.

The problem was there wasn't an obvious spot for him on the roster. The Raptors were, and still are, loaded at the point guard position. Kyle Lowry is the team's most valuable commodity. Local product Cory Joseph is coming off a breakout season and has emerged as one of the league's top backups. Delon Wright embraced his time in the D-League during his rookie campaign and seemed ready for a bigger workload as a sophomore.

VanVleet's fortunes turned when Wright went down with a shoulder injury that will sideline him until December, at the earliest, leaving Toronto in need of a third point guard for the first couple months of the season.

Their decision this past weekend was an easy one. Both Drew Crawford and Canadian sharpshooter Brady Heslip made strong cases for themselves with solid showings in camp, but VanVleet was always their guy.

His most convincing performance came in a win over San Lorenzo, the club from Argentina. Starting for Lowry, who sat out with the rest of the team's regulars, VanVleet went off for 31 points on 12-of-19 shooting in 38 minutes. However, his best moments came in practice, where he earned rave reviews from coaches and teammates, including one who isn't so easy to impress.

Lowry has found a willing pupil in VanVleet, a point guard with a similar stature and penchant for playing bigger than it.

"I think Kyle sees himself in Fred, a young Kyle Lowry," Casey said. "The toughness, the grittiness. Because that's the way Fred's got to play to be effective. So I think that's what attracts Kyle to Fred a little bit."

"He beat up on me pretty bad the first day," said VanVleet. "I think I fouled him about 20 times, but I kept coming and that's all you've got to do, is never back down. He's been great for me, helping me a lot more than I ever thought he would or that he has to. He doesn't have to take me under his wing like he has but he's been great for me and I'm just blessed to be in this position."

His deal doesn't become fully guaranteed until Jan. 10. If Wright is back by then and the team decides four point guards is a luxury it can't afford or there are other pressing needs on the roster, he could become expendable. Until then, there aren't likely to be many minutes available behind Lowry and Joseph but that doesn't faze VanVleet, who still recognizes the value of this opportunity, however long it lasts. 

"The pressure is not on me to carry the team, obviously - I think we all can agree on that," he said with a smile. "So I have a chance to sit back and learn, while keep growing and staying ready."

His goal, according to Casey, is to push the guys ahead of him every day, to try and take their minutes, to take their jobs. It's not the most glamorous or rewarding gig but it's one that suits the gritty point guard. Don't expect VanVleet to back down anytime soon.