Yesterday news broke that Toronto Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas, is very close to agreeing a new four-year deal with the Toronto Raptors. The deal that Jonas Valanciunas is preparing to sign is worth a reported $60 Million over four years.
Jonas Valanciunas is definitely a player worth locking up for the foreseeable future. Good seven-foot tall centers are hard to find in the NBA. Jonas Valanciunas is not an elite center yet, but he is knocking at the door, along with others such as Andre Drummond, Nikola Vucevic and DeAndre Jordan. Jonas Valanciunas was set to hit the free agency market after next season. Toronto has done the smart thing, and is going to have a solid paint and post presence for the next five years after this extension. What was also a clever move by the Raptors was to get this obstacle out of the way before it became a problem during the season. Now the Raptors have eliminated that potential distraction, this upcoming NBA season will surely go a lot smoother than if they had hesitated to make this extension.
Jonas Valanciunas averaged 12 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game last season. Very sold numbers form a player who will only continue to get better and better as his still young career progresses. Valanciunas also had a very good PER of 20.6.
Jonas Valanciunas hails from Utena, Lithuania. Valanciunas was selected fifth overall in the 2011 NBA draft, by the Toronto Raptors. He is still only 23 of age and has many years of basketball ahead of him. Despite only starting his NBA career in 2012 at the age of 20, Jonas Valanciunas has been playing professionally since 2008 when he was just 16. Valanciunas played for Lithuanian based team Vilnius Perlas.
Jonas Valanciunas deserves this deal, he is a player who has always impressed me, but he has never wowed me, but it will happen I’m sure. That leads me to believe the future is bright for both Jonas Valanciunas and the Toronto Raptors franchise.
