{"id":113283,"date":"2024-12-19T20:33:31","date_gmt":"2024-12-20T01:33:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=113283"},"modified":"2024-12-19T20:33:31","modified_gmt":"2024-12-20T01:33:31","slug":"wizards-center-jonas-valanciunas-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/19\/wizards-center-jonas-valanciunas-trade\/","title":{"rendered":"Coveted Wizards Center Remains Significant Trade Target"},"content":{"rendered":"

This year’s trade season already carries a busier and ruckus aura to it. Several superstar names are at the top of daily trade rumor talks, as are other key role pieces that many teams have their eyes on for depth and playoff security. One of these often spoken-of trade targets is coveted Washington Wizards center\u00a0<\/span>Jonas\u00a0Valan\u010di\u016bnas<\/span><\/a>. The 14-year veteran has been part of trade rumors going back into the summer, and the rumors have not ceased.<\/span><\/p>\n

Coveted Wizards Center Remains Significant Trade Target<\/h2>\n

Washington Wizard center Jonas Valan\u010di\u016bnas Could Aid Other Teams Besides Lakers<\/h3>\n

If you’re paying any attention to the players mired deep in trade rumors and conversations, you’ll know that Valan\u010di\u016bnas is right smack in the center of those daily musings. The big man has largely remained linked to the\u00a0<\/span>Los Angeles Lakers<\/span><\/a>\u00a0as one of their top trade interests. However, their interest in him isn’t just recent. Their eyes were set stretching back to the offseason when the Lakers had serious interest in signing the then-free agent. LeBron James’ camp even made it public that Valan\u010di\u016bnas was one of the few players LeBron would shift his contract around should the Lakers sign the center. Alas, nothing came out of that, and Valan\u010di\u016bnas signed in Washington for three years.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While the Wizards’ big man remains on the Lakers’ radar, the Lakers are just one of 30 teams in the NBA. That’s a crazy statement to make. One might think they’re the only team out there. There truly are other suitors in the field who also need help at center. In that light, the following two teams could benefit from someone like Valan\u010di\u016bnas.<\/p>\n

Golden State Warriors<\/h3>\n

The\u00a0<\/span>Warriors<\/span><\/a>\u00a0are an interesting suggestion because they’re not known for big, bruising centers. Valan\u010di\u016bnas, coincidently, rarely, if ever, leaves the paint. So, why the Warriors, then? According to NBA reporter\u00a0<\/span>Jake Fischer via\u00a0<\/span><\/a>The Stein Line<\/span><\/a><\/em>, current Warriors center\u00a0<\/span>Kevon Looney<\/span><\/a>\u00a0is drawing significant interest from teams. Looney shifts between center and power forward and can play each position comfortably, which is an attractive aspect of his game. He’s also on an expiring contract worth $8m. The Warriors have not made any moves toward changing that, so Looney appears to be available if someone comes knocking. Valan\u010di\u016bnas on the Warriors might look strange at first. That said, having a center of his defensive caliber could give the Warriors a different look and change their defensive game plan for the better.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Los Angeles Clippers<\/h3>\n

The future of this season for the Lakers’ recently departed basement roommates is entirely up in the air at this time. Despite\u00a0<\/span>Kawhi Leonard<\/span><\/a>\u00a0still on ice, the\u00a0<\/span>Clippers<\/span><\/a> sit ninth in the West and three games north of .500. It’s a surprising accomplishment given that\u00a0<\/span>James Harden<\/span><\/a> is the lone star on the team but playing well. Others have shown up, though, notably\u00a0<\/span>Norman Powell,<\/span><\/a> making the Clippers not entirely dead in the water. Kawhi will eventually return. Trading for Valan\u010di\u016bnas could help the Clippers if they want to stay competitive after Kawhi’s return. Of course, the Clippers already have an excellent big man in\u00a0<\/span>Ivica Zubac<\/span><\/a>. Consider, though, the power and size the Clippers could boast in the paint with both Zubac and Valan\u010di\u016bnas. Harden, Leonard, and Powell round out the rest of the floor. That’s a daunting lineup right there.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Wherever Valan\u010di\u016bnas lands, if indeed he does end up traded, the Clippers and Warriors could join the Lakers, and likely a few more squads, inquiring of the big man’s services. Is Valan\u010di\u016bnas a game changer? As in, does the team that trades for him shoot right up to championship contention? Who’s to say? It certainly depends on which team it is. Nevertheless, the Wizards center has much to offer, and his presence on the floor is significant. At the very least, whichever team lands him is one step closer than they were prior.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This year’s trade season already carries a busier and ruckus aura to it. Several superstar names are at the top of daily trade rumor talks, as are other key role pieces that many teams have their eyes on for depth and playoff security. One of these often spoken-of trade targets is coveted Washington Wizards center\u00a0Jonas\u00a0Valan\u010di\u016bnas. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5081,"featured_media":113284,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4721,1608,25,27,62,18],"tags":[652,444,167,168,1965,38,716],"class_list":["post-113283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trade-rumors","category-basketball","category-warriors","category-clippers","category-nba","category-wizards","tag-ivica-zubac","tag-james-harden","tag-jonas-valanciunas","tag-kawhi-leonard","tag-kevon-looney","tag-lebron-james","tag-norman-powell"],"modified_by":"Aaron J Zacharias","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5081"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113283"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113283\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":113287,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113283\/revisions\/113287"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}