Jonas Valanciunas Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Raptors, Jonas Valanciunas Deep In Extension Talks

August 20th, 2015 at 9:16am CST by Chuck Myron

THURSDAY, 9:16am: The sides are still working, and while there has been some optimism they’ll strike a deal today, that remains to be seen, Grange tweets.

TUESDAY, 11:19am: The Raptors and Valanciunas are indeed close to deal, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca, who suggests that it’s a distinct possibility a formal agreement will come this week. However, the timing remains a question mark, and it’s no guarantee the sides reach a deal this week, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet (Twitter link).

4:23pm: The deal isn’t done, but the Raptors and Valanciunas are in advanced discussions toward a four-year extension that would be worth more than $60MM, Stein adds (on Twitter).

4:20pm: Marc Stein of ESPN.com confirms that Valanciunas on his way to Toronto “to firm up” an extension with the Raptors (Twitter link). It remains unclear whether the sides have an agreement quite yet, however.

MONDAY, 3:53pm: Jonas Valanciunas has left the Lithuanian national team to return to Toronto, where the Raptors have an extension offer waiting for him, Lithuanian national team coach Jonas Kazlauskas said, as Donatas Urbonas of 24Sek.lt writes and as Kevin Rashidi of Canada.com translates and confirms (Twitter link). He’ll undergo a physical, but Kazlauskas indicated the center would sign the deal.

The Raptors have reportedly wanted extensions with both Valanciunas and fellow former lottery pick Terrence Ross in advance of this year’s November 2nd deadline. GM Masai Ujiri this past spring called Valanciunas “a huge part of our team” for the future, and while the development of the 7-footer seemed to plateau this past season, the Raptors apparently placed the blame for that on their assistant coaches.

An extension for Valanciunas would kick in for the 2016/17 season, when the salary cap is projected to hit $89MM. The Raptors are set to enter that season with only about $45.5MM on the books, though that doesn’t include any money for Valanciunas, Ross, or DeMar DeRozan, who can opt out next summer.

Nikola Vucevic, a center who struggles defensively, as Valanciunas does, but who had put up greater offensive numbers, signed a four-year, $48MM extension with the Magic last year. Still, the rising cap prompted me to project, when I examined the extension candidacy of Valanciunas last week, that the Raptors would give the Leon Rose client $13-14MM a year.

Do you think the Raptors and Valanciunas should wait until the extension deadline in the fall, when other deals could help set the market, or are they smart to try to wrap up a deal now? Leave a comment to let us know.

Atlantic Notes: Embiid, Valanciunas, Mickey

August 19th, 2015 at 7:21pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Sixers have officially announced that center Joel Embiid is expected to miss the entire 2015/16 campaign while he recovers from surgery on his right foot, the second such procedure the big man has undergone on that appendage. Embiid’s recovery is expected to take five to eight months, which was the exact same timeframe the center was given following his surgery last season, according to the announcement. Philly GM Sam Hinkie also noted that Embiid did not suffer another broken foot, but instead, there was simply less healing than medical personnel anticipated.

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

Hinkie also said that the Sixers were still actively looking to make another trade this offseason, but would not disclose what position the team is looking to upgrade at, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer tweets. The GM also said regarding potential deals, “We’re still active, heavily engaged in trade conversations, [and also] with free agents still. I don’t have anything to announce,” Tom Moore of Calkins Media relays (on Twitter). Philly could stand to add some depth at point guard, with the team’s current rotation at the one consisting of Tony Wroten, Isaiah Canaan, and Scottie Wilbekin.
Even if the Raptors need to offer Jonas Valanciunas an extension above market value in order to entice him to sign, Doug Smith of The Toronto Star thinks locking him up before the salary cap spikes next summer would be a wise move for Toronto. Members of the Raptors front office are adamant that JV will be a key part of the club’s success in 2015/16, according to Smith, who thinks an agreement between the two sides is inevitable.
Celtics coach Brad Stevens is excited by what he’s seen from draftees Jordan Mickey, Terry Rozier, and R.J. Hunter, with Mickey making an especially strong impression courtesy of his length and athleticism, Judy Cohen of WEEI 93.7 FM writes. “Those guys are workers,” Stevens said. “They’ll come in, they’ll work, they’ll add to that environment of work that I like the rest of our guys are doing, and so time will tell, but we’re anxious to see.”

Charlie Adams contributed to this post.

Atlantic Notes: Valanciunas, Embiid, Richardson

August 18th, 2015 at 7:16pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Raptors and Jonas Valanciunas are reportedly working toward a four-year contract extension that would be worth more than $60MM, and the two sides could finalize the deal as early as this week. While inking the young big man to such a lucrative pact may be a big risk for a player with career averages of 10.9 points and 8.0 rebounds, TSN.ca’s Josh Lewenberg notes that Valanciunas is just 23 years old, and the Raptors still believe in him and his potential (Twitter links). Lewenberg also adds that the center needs to improve his passing, mobility, and perimeter defense to justify receiving that vote of confidence from the organization, but with the salary cap expected to increase markedly next season, Valanciunas wouldn’t have much difficulty securing that size of an offer in the free agent marketplace from another team.

Here’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

While some may have doubts that Valanciunas is worth an annual salary in the $15MM range, Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca believes signing the big man to a four-year, $60MM extension would be a steal for the Raptors organization. Grange cites Valancinuas’ improved numbers last season, as well as durability, with the center having missed just seven contests in three NBA seasons, as reasons why Toronto is making a wise move in extending the player.
Sixers center Joel Embiid underwent successful surgery today on his right foot, Mike Sielski of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports (Twitter link). Embiid is expected to miss the entire 2015/16 campaign, his second straight after being selected with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft.
Jason Richardson took to his personal Twitter account to thank the Sixers for their support of him the last three seasons. The 34-year-old only appeared in a total of 52 contests during his tenure in Philadelphia, and the unrestricted free agent has inked a non-guaranteed pact with the Hawks for the 2015/16 campaign.

Extension Candidate: Jonas Valanciunas

August 13th, 2015 at 11:15am CST by Chuck Myron

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

No one who’s a part of the Raptors core was as highly drafted as Jonas Valanciunas, the No. 5 pick from 2011. Toronto had to wait a year for the Lithuanian center while he continued to play overseas, but he’s quickly established himself as an NBA starter in the three seasons since. It’s convincing the Raptors that he can finish games that has proven troublesome for the 7-footer, who often sat on the bench in crunch time this past season, one in which he played a relatively meager 26.2 minutes per game despite starting in all 80 of his regular season appearances. The Raptors reportedly want an extension with him, and while that’s no surprise, GM Masai Ujiri surely has a ceiling for negotiations with a center who saw the floor for barely more than half the game.

Still, Ujiri called Valanciunas “a huge part of our team” at season’s end, adding that the way the team deployed the center this past season would be a “big discussion” he would have with coach Dwane Casey and his staff. Valanciunas appeared to stagnate this past season after a leap between his rookie and sophomore years, and that was a factor in the changes that ultimately took place to Casey’s staff, as Ken Berger of CBSSports.com reported a few months ago. All of that would suggest that Ujiri feels Valanciunas is capable of playing more minutes and finishing more games than he did in 2014/15, which bodes well for the Leon Rose client as extension talks loom.

The problem lies on defense. The Raptors were a better defensive team when Valanciunas sat than when he played last season, by a measure of 1.6 points per 100 possessions, as NBA.com shows. He was a minus defender, according to Basketball-Reference’s Box Plus Minus. Those are serious issues for any NBA starting center, let alone one whom a team is considering for a long-term commitment. ESPN’s Real Plus Minus is kinder, ranking him as the 33rd-best defensive center, two spots behind fellow rookie scale extension candidate John Henson, whom other defensive metrics love, as I examined earlier. A ranking of No. 33 among centers is cold comfort, nonetheless. Casey’s forte is defense, but he’ll have to work some true wizardry to give the Raptors a championship-level defense any time soon unless Valanciunas can improve on that end.

Ujiri made moves to improve the team’s defense this past season, none more striking than his four-year, $58MM deal for three-and-D forward DeMarre Carroll. He also brought in Bismack Biyombo, a defensive specialist, to play as the backup to Valanciunas. Biyombo, who averaged only 4.8 points per game last season, would be the only logical alternative for Casey if he doesn’t want Valanciunas on the floor down the stretch, so unless the Raptors merely want to protect a lead, it seems likely that Valanciunas will be on the floor when the final horn sounds.

The 23-year-old has shown he’s capable of getting better in other regards. His PER vaulted from 16.1 in 2013/14 to a strong 20.6 this past season, a sign that he made the most of his time on the floor. Indeed, Valanciunas scored more points per game in fewer minutes and on slightly fewer shots. He made a career-best 57.2% of his attempts from the floor, upping the percentage of his shots that came at point-blank range, as Basketball-Reference shows. He’s also become a better rebounder, having averaged nearly 12 rebounds per 36 minutes this past season after he started out at just 9.0 in the per-36 category as a rookie.

Next year’s free agent class is relatively thin after the top few names, but the available centers are fairly intriguing. Andre Drummond seems destined to either receive an extension from the Pistons or re-sign next summer, but Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol can opt out. Former Florida teammates Al Horford and Joakim Noah figure to be highly sought-after, as does Al Jefferson. Hassan Whiteside will have no shortage of suitors if he duplicates his breakthrough year for the Heat, and Roy Hibbert can vault himself into the upper tier with a bounceback season for the Lakers. Teams will have serious money to throw around, with the salary cap set to surge to $89MM, but Valanciunas will have competition for it.

The Raptors can go in several different directions. They only have about $42MM in salary commitments for 2016/17 as it stands, though that figure will almost certainly rise to approximately $45.5MM when Toronto picks up its team options on Lucas Nogueira and Bruno Caboclo. Early word indicates that DeMar DeRozan will opt out, and Terrence Ross, like Valanciunas, can hit restricted free agency if he doesn’t receive an extension. Re-signing DeRozan, Ross and Valanciunas at market value would likely leave the team without the capacity to chase top-tier free agents next summer, when Toronto native Tristan Thompson would be an unrestricted free agent if he signs his qualifying offer.

I speculated in our Raptors offseason outlook that Valanciunas and Rose would ask for $12MM salaries that would put him in line with what Nikola Vucevic, another defensively challenged starting center, received on his extension from the Magic last year. The spending in this summer’s free agent market, including a max deal of more than $17.5MM a year for defensive sieve Enes Kanter and Ujiri’s commitment of a $14.5MM average annual value to Carroll, suggests that $12MM is too low a starting point. The Valanciunas camp will probably ask for at least as much as Carroll received, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the center ultimately end up with $13-14MM a year, numbers that look high but are well beneath the projected $20.4MM max for players with his level of experience.

That may end up a bargain if Casey and new assistants Rex Kalamian, Andy Greer and Jerry Stackhouse turn Valanciunas into a credible defender and continue his offensive development. Ujiri appears to have no shortage of faith that Valanciunas will improve and seems to view him as a cornerstone for the future. That’s probably enough motivation for Toronto to make an offer lucrative enough to get a deal done this fall.

How much do you think Valanciunas should make per year on his next deal? Leave a comment to tell us.

Atlantic Notes: Bargnani, Alexander, Raptors

August 4th, 2015 at 7:45pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Andrea Bargnani, in an interview with Malcolm Pagani of il Fatto Quotidiano, an Italian newspaper (h/t to NetsDaily), noted that he turned down more lucrative NBA offers this Summer in order to sign with the Nets. “I would have done it [signed with Brooklyn] for free because the money at this time does not matter,” said Bargnani. “I just hope I can have a decent playing time, scoring as many points [as he can] and exceed goals. I do not think I was lucky [last year]. Luck is good health that allows you to prove your talent at the right time. The rest is the work. I made risky choices, indeed extremely risky and I intend to continue to take risks. I accept all the criticism, it is living in a beautiful dream, I know myself. ”

Here’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

The Raptors have officially announced the promotion of Teresa Resch to Vice President, Basketball Operations and Player Development and Dan Tolzman to Director, Player Personnel. Tolzman will also serve as the GM of Toronto’s new D-League affiliate, Raptors 905, who begin play this coming season.
Grantland’s Zach Lowe pegs Jonas Valanciunas as a “lock” to demand maximum-level salaries in any extension with the Raptors. The deadline for Toronto and the Leon Rose client to do an extension is October 31st.
It seems to be shaping up as a player-friendly extension market, as Lowe, writing in the same piece, speculates that the Celtics might pounce on a deal with Tyler Zeller as long as the annual salaries are worth less than a staggering $12MM.
Former lottery pick Joe Alexander turned down a Summer contract offer from the Celtics and instead has signed a deal with Banco di Sardegna Sassari of Sardinia, Alexander’s agents Doug Neustadt and Mike Kneisley confirmed to David Pick of Eurobasket.com (on Twitter). Alexander’s last NBA action came during the 2009/10 campaign when he made eight appearances for the Bulls.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Raptors Seek Extensions With Valanciunas, Ross

July 9th, 2015 at 9:45pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Raptors will work to sign Jonas Valanciunas and Terrence Ross to rookie scale extensions before the October 31st deadline to do so, reports Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun (Twitter link). The team sees it as a matter of paying now versus paying later, but that they’re willing to pay at all beyond this coming season, the last on the contracts for both, is noteworthy, particularly for Ross. Toronto earlier today signed DeMarre Carroll to a four-year, $60MM contract, further crowding the team’s wing positions, where DeMar DeRozan occupies the starting two guard spot.

Toronto reportedly listened to trade offers for Ross this past season and apparently gave thought to trading Valanciunas, too. Ross suffered a regression this past season, his third since becoming the eighth overall pick in 2012, averaging fewer points and minutes per game than he did in his sophomore campaign. His three-point shooting percentage also dipped. Valanciunas saw his playing time decrease slightly, too, but he still upped his scoring average, an efficiency shown in his 20.6 PER.

Eric Koreen of the National Post suggested this spring that it was likely that Toronto would explore an extension for Valanciunas, and indeed it appears that’s what GM Masai Ujiri intends to do with the Leon Rose client. Ujiri affirmed his commitment to the big man at the end of this past season, calling him “a huge part of our team” going forward, and the organization seemed to pin the slow development of the former No. 5 overall pick on the team’s staff of assistant coaches, which has since undergone changes.

The early read on DeRozan is that he’ll probably opt out next summer, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe recently wrote, so an extension for Ross, an Aaron Mintz client, would provide insurance in case DeRozan bolts. Ross and Valanciunas would be set for restricted free agency a year from now if the Raptors don’t sign them to extensions.

Eastern Notes: Hornets, Noel, Heat

May 21st, 2015 at 7:50pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Nerlens Noel is the current face of the Sixers, but he isn’t worried about being traded the way Michael Carter-Williams, the last potential franchise cornerstone, was, Mike Sielski of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. “No, no, no – that’s not on my mind at all,” Noel said. “I’m focused on helping build this team on the right path, building with the right coach, and bringing in young guys so we can really make a wave. I have a lot of confidence in Sam [Hinkie]. He hasn’t failed us so far. Joel‘s [Embiid] healthy and looking great – great. He’s moving well. I feel good. I’m healthy. We’re moving forward, and things are in place. I feel good about everything.”

Here’s more out of the Eastern Conference:

If the Hornets can’t redeem the No. 9 overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft for an impact player who can score, the franchise needs to trade away assets for draft picks and become worse so they can become better in the long run, opines Tom Sorensen of The Charlotte Observer.
The Heat owe a total of six draft picks (three first-round picks and three second-round picks) over the next seven years as the result of previous trades, with none due from other teams, Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel points out. This makes it absolutely vital for Miami to select an impact player with the No. 10 overall pick in this year’s draft, Winderman adds.
One of the factors involved in the recent shakeup of the Raptors‘ coaching staff was the slow growth curve of former No. 5 overall pick Jonas Valanciunas, Ken Berger of CBSSports.com writes.
Many scouts and executives believe that the depth in the 2015 NBA Draft is between the mid-first round and late first round, right where the Bulls are slated to pick at No. 22 overall, Vincent Goodwill of CSNChicago.com writes.

Masai Ujiri On Valanciunas, Lowry, D-League

April 28th, 2015 at 11:51am CST by Chuck Myron

GM Masai Ujiri accepts responsibility for the team’s late-season collapse, as he made clear today to reporters, including Dave Feschuk of the Toronto Star (Twitter link), at his end-of-season press conference.

“The process is sometimes you get kicked in the face,” Ujiri said, according to Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun (Twitter link). “We got kicked in the face.”

Ujiri doesn’t regret not having made a trade at the deadline, and he insists he won’t make any knee-jerk reactions in the offseason ahead, notes Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca (Twitter link). Still, he isn’t committing to coach Dwane Casey for another season, as we passed along earlier, and with many questions surrounding the team following a disastrous end to the season in Toronto, we’ll round up the rest of the GM’s relevant comments here:

Jonas Valanciunas is “a huge part of our team” going into the future, Ujiri said, expressing his belief that such big men are still valuable even in an era of small ball, Wolstat relays (Twitter links). “We can criticize Jonas … and it’s a big discussion we’re going to have with coach and the staff, how he was used,” Ujiri also said, as Feschuk tweets.
Kyle Lowry didn’t maintain his level of play down the stretch, but Ujiri said he’s “even more confident” in the point guard now than when the Raptors re-signed him last season for four years and $48MM, Lewenberg notes (Twitter link).
The Raptors and the NBA are in advanced talks about arranging a one-to-one D-League affiliate that could be a part of the organization as soon as next year, as Lewenberg relays (on Twitter). The Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment company that owns the Raptors have given the OK for the team to purchase a D-League affiliate, Wolstat tweets.

Raptors Rumors: Casey, Williams, Lowry

April 28th, 2015 at 10:28am CST by Chuck Myron

Raptors GM Masai Ujiri didn’t say whether coach Dwane Casey would be back next year, though he indicated that if he had decided against keeping him, he’d have already said so, notes Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun (Twitter link). “There’s no doomsday here,” Ujiri said, according to Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca (on Twitter). “Initial indications” are that the Raptors will retain Casey, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com hears, as he writes in the same piece, but league sources tell Grantland’s Zach Lowe that it’s still uncertain whether the coach will be back next season, even though he’s under contract. Casey agreed to a three-year deal last offseason that consists of two guaranteed years and a team option for 2016/17. There’s plenty more on the Raptors, as we detail:

The belief is that the Raptors would like to re-sign Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams on a reasonable deal, according to Stein, who writes in the same piece, though Eric Koreen of the National Post suggests that Williams and the rest of the Raptors free agents aren’t strong bets to return. An NBA executive told Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun that he would only sign Williams to a one-year deal, citing his defensive shortcomings.
Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan and Jonas Valanciunas are the only Raptors who should feel confident that they’re likely to remain in Toronto for next season, Stein hears, adding that rival teams would nonetheless be unsurprised if the team makes changes to its core.
Casey and Ujiri have no shortage of faith in Terrence Ross, writes Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun, who says that chances are that Ross is still with the Raptors next season. A trade of DeRozan would allow Ross into his natural position of shooting guard, and many believe “the winds are blowing” in that direction, Wolstat writes. Ross, a former No. 8 overall pick, is eligible for a rookie scale extension in the offseason.
Valanciunas will also be up for a rookie scale extension this year, and Koreen suggests it’s likely that the Raptors will explore the notion of giving him one.

Atlantic Notes: Thomas, McGee, Valanciunas

March 6th, 2015 at 10:22pm CST by Will Joseph

Isaiah Thomas, who has thrived since being acquired by the Celtics in a February trade, will continue to come off the bench because Boston coach Brad Stevens is more concerned with how his team finishes games, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com writes. Thomas, who was named Eastern Conference player of the week last week and who has three years and approximately $19.76MM remaining on his contract after this season, prefers to be a starter but his approach remains the same, Blakely added.

“The biggest thing is, he wants to start because he has a lot of pride and works really hard,” Stevens said. “Starting is not the end-all, be-all. And being a part of a team and being a really important part of a team and for a guy with that talent being on the floor at the end of the game, certainly is important. It [starting] may be something he wishes he would do, but I don’t think there’s any question he knows what we think of him. We’ll go from there.”

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

Free agent JaVale McGee has all the physical tools to succeed, but he’s barely played in two years and it’s never been clear if he understands basketball, opines Zach Lowe of Grantland (via Twitter). McGee was on the verge of a deal with the Celtics on Thursday before a dispute over whether the second year of a deal would be a team option or a player option derailed things.
Jonas Valanciunas, whom the Raptors reportedly mulled trading before the deadline, should be Toronto’s go-to scorer in the final quarter of games, opines Eric Koreen of the National Post. The franchise needs to begin transitioning toward featuring the big man more if it hopes to advance in the playoffs, Koreen adds.
Citing the turnaround seasons the Cavs and Hawks are experiencing, Knicks coach Derek Fisher believes his club will be different next season because it will likely have a top-5 draft pick and plenty of cap room, Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com writes. “Teams that feel like maybe they’re one step away or one piece away, they’ll make a move in the summer,” Fisher said. “We have money to spend and we’re heading for a pretty high [draft] pick so we’re expecting to be different as well.”

Zach Links contributed to this post