That job belonged to the coaching staff and front office, too, but VanVleet admittedly lacked the softer touch required to allow those disparate goals to come together into something bigger. Finding a way to further integrate Barnes, whose role was often minimized through games, was a particular problem. “I’ve been in that position before,” VanVleet said. “We had a lot of guys trying to figure it out at the same time in Toronto, and lost a little bit of what held us together in that process. I didn’t want to make that same mistake here.”