Author Topic: Speculation: Jonas Valanciunas could be Availble  (Read 1615 times)

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Speculation: Jonas Valanciunas could be Availble
« on: May 25, 2016, 12:58:27 AM »

Offline Smartacus

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Bismac Biyoooooomboooooo!

The man from the Congo is emerging right before everyone's eyes and is one of the great stories of the playoffs. Monster game sealing rebounding, highlight rejections, and the finger wag swagger that fit's in with the team's image. Everything I hear from Raptors fans is that he's gone since he going to be looking at a payday and the Raptors are capped out... but what if they weren't?

What if they had a 6'11 foot enigma on the roster taking up near max money who is known as much for his inconsistent play and stadoffish nature, as his all star potential. Of course I'm referring to Jonas Valanciunas. Valanciunas has long been one of the harder players to get a read on in the league. Something of a throwback center, he does his damage mostly off an effective upfake, solid if somewhat deliberate footwork, and the ability to finish strong at the rim. He can shoot from the midrange and has solid ability at the line. Valanciunas is on a fairly team friendly deal at 4 years $64 Million, and yet nothing I just described are the type of plays that get the Air Canada Center in hysterics. Is it possible that they'd let him go?]

I've had the feeling for a while now that Val isn't a favorite of his teammates, coaches, or the fanbase. Not the most chaismatic guy, his standoffish demeanor can often lead to people question his effort and desire...
Quote
“I told Jonas that if he will play as hard on defense as he does on offense, we will win this whole series,” DeMarre Carroll told reporters.
He's so big and at times so effective that it seems like when Valanciunas succeeds people read it like, "Oh, your finally playing like your capable of..." where as someone like Biyombo is the type of guy that people feed off of with his infectious energy.

So where do we come in? Well, IMO we have the assets to get a deal for the big man done. We have one of Canada's native sons in Kelly Olynyk, who is similar in skill set to Luis Scola but fits in better with their young core. We have an assortment of picks that could give Masai Ujiri something to work with in the trade market. We have young, intriguing talent like Terry Rozier, RJ Hunter, Jordan Mickey and James Young that could emerge if presented with an opportunity up north.

Would Jonas Valanciunas be a good fit here? Difficult to say but I think it's high time we acquired a big man who can offer a matchup problem when the game starts to tighten up.

P.S. I'm having trouble getting the numbers to work on the trade machine. Anyone know of way to make the deal happen?

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/08/sports/basketball/jonas-valanciunas-is-playing-up-to-his-star-potential-with-the-raptors.html?_r=0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n50vohPRGwc

Re: Speculation: Jonas Valanciunas could be Availble
« Reply #1 on: May 25, 2016, 01:03:44 AM »

Offline mr. dee

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I doubt JV will come off cheap. I'll go with the usual approach that "it depends on the asking price."

And Bismack is averaging over 40mpg in the series. JV can come off the bench as the sixth man.

Re: Speculation: Jonas Valanciunas could be Availble
« Reply #2 on: May 25, 2016, 02:00:12 AM »

Offline Smartacus

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I doubt JV will come off cheap. I'll go with the usual approach that "it depends on the asking price."

And Bismack is averaging over 40mpg in the series. JV can come off the bench as the sixth man.

Agree that it could be a pipe dream, but Masai Ujiri is also one of the more active GM's in the league when it comes to the trade market. Val was also picked by the old regime so it's possible that Ujiri was never 100% in favor of the pick.

Unlikely but IMO there's a chance.

Re: Speculation: Jonas Valanciunas could be Availble
« Reply #3 on: May 25, 2016, 03:33:30 AM »

Offline TheSundanceKid

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I doubt JV will come off cheap. I'll go with the usual approach that "it depends on the asking price."

And Bismack is averaging over 40mpg in the series. JV can come off the bench as the sixth man.

You aren't paying that money for a 6th man center.

I don't think he'd be a good fit here, the Raptors already experienced problems in spacing with him and Amir. So we'd be saying goodbye to amir. Not sure he's worth it.

If we go for a back to the basket big let it be Okafor and let us pay the price.

#3,#23 and a player (let's hope for James Young  ;D )

Re: Speculation: Jonas Valanciunas could be Availble
« Reply #4 on: May 25, 2016, 06:54:06 AM »

Offline NHCelticsFan

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I remember watching a Raptors/Celtics game on TV during the 2014-2015 season.  The game was in Boston and Zeller was playing really well, running the floor and completely wearing out Valanciunas to the point where you could see him on TV with his hands on his hips and knees trying to catch his breath.  Tommy was having a lot of fun with that!

My point is that I don't see him being an uptempo type of player, which seems to be Stevens style.  A good big to bang down low for your team (and we could have used one of those in the Atlanta series) but not really a "modern" big for todays NBA. 

I am really intrigued by these Okafor rumors because I think he moves well for a guy his size, very fluid, especially with the ball in his hand.  He could solve a lot of problems for us, one of which would be having a legit big man that can hold his own and even push some other guys around.   Jonas I don't see being a fit for Boston, especially at the cost it would take to get him in green. 

Re: Speculation: Jonas Valanciunas could be Availble
« Reply #5 on: May 25, 2016, 07:09:03 AM »

Offline loco_91

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Valanciunias's advanced stats are really really good. He's probably worth the #3 pick.

Re: Speculation: Jonas Valanciunas could be Availble
« Reply #6 on: May 25, 2016, 07:18:28 AM »

Offline Celtics4ever

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I think this is wishful thinking.