Jonas Valanciunas

Atlantic Notes: Valanciunas, McConnell, Porzingis

November 21st, 2015 at 2:49pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Undrafted rookie point guard T.J. McConnell has been one of the early season’s pleasant surprises for the Sixers, something that even McConnell didn’t anticipate, Andy Jasner of NBA.com writes. “Did I expect to play this much so early in the season?,” McConnell asked. “I would have to say, ‘no.’ Like I’ve said, weird things have gone on. My number has been called and I’m going in to compete and fight for minutes. It’s every day that you have to compete and play hard and learn. To keep this dream going, it’s keeping that work ethic going and continuing to play well. I just want to take advantage of this amazing opportunity.”

McConnell is a realist and understands that his future with the team is unclear once Kendall Marshall and Tony Wroten return to action, Jasner adds. “I hope so,” McConnell responded when asked if he had a future in Philly. “I’ve already had such a great experience here. The coaches and my teammates are amazing to be around every day. My teammates are always encouraging me and the coaches are teaching all the time. I’m here to learn and get better. I don’t ever want to look down the road. Sure, I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t think about it. But my job is to stay in the moment and improve as much as possible.”

Here’s more from out of the Atlantic Division:

Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas fractured the fourth metacarpal in his non-shooting hand on Friday night, and will be evaluated to determine just how long he’ll be out of action, the team announced via a press release (h/t to ESPN.com). Valanciunas broke a similar bone in his right hand during his 2012/13 rookie season and missed 18 games as a result.
Kristaps Porzingis has taken New York by storm, as well as surprised many around the league with his solid start, but the Knicks rookie isn’t shocked that he has been able to contribute immediately, Mike Vaccaro of The New York Post writes. “Everybody [was] saying project, few years,” Porzingis said. “I will get better in a few years, but I knew I’d be able to play right now.”
The Celtics have recalled Terry Rozier and James Young from the Maine Red Claws, their D-League affiliate, the team announced.

And-Ones: Valanciunas, Union, Hawks, Jazz

October 23rd, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Teams that would like to trade for Jonas Valanciunas believe the Raptors are “lukewarm” on the center, Grantland’s Zach Lowe writes within his annual League Pass rankings. Executives from around the league wonder how Valanciunas would fit in another system and whether a player like him can thrive in today’s NBA, Lowe adds. Toronto just signed Valanciunas to a four-year, $64MM extension this summer, trigging the Poison Pill Provision, which makes any trade a difficult salary-matching proposition, and GM Masai Ujiri has said on multiple occasions that the Raptors highly value the former No. 5 overall pick. See more from around the NBA:

Union executive director Michele Roberts hopes that next month she and NBA commissioner Adam Silver will begin formal negotiations toward a new collective bargaining agreement, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports details. The league hasn’t given Roberts any ultimatums regarding revenue or other labor issues, she tells Spears, expressing optimism that they can settle their differences without a work stoppage. Roberts, after watching Lamar Odom‘s struggles, would also like to see the union create a transition program for players retiring from basketball, Spears writes.
Mike Budenholzer doesn’t anticipate making a change in playing style because of the free agent departure of DeMarre Carroll, who signed with the Raptors for four years and $58MM, as the Hawks coach/executive tells Chris Mannix of SI.com. Budenholzer isn’t putting pressure on any one player to replace Carroll, Mannix adds. “Just in general, I’ve told them, ‘be yourselves, do not try to do too much,'” Budenholzer said. “Sometimes when you are given opportunities to make reads, you have to make simple plays. That is what is going to be best for us. We feel fortunate we have a good group of guys that can all play significant roles. It may not be as stable as it has been the last two years. We will just kind of make some decisions and go from there.”
E.J. Singler‘s deal with the Jazz was a two-year, minimum-salary arrangement that carried a $50K partial guarantee, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). Utah, which released Singler on Thursday just one day after signing him, will be responsible for that $50K if he clears waivers.

Atlantic Notes: Valanciunas, Celtics, Knicks

September 3rd, 2015 at 8:16pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Raptors feel confident that center Jonas Valanciunas, who signed a four-year, $64MM extension with the team this offseason, will continue to develop and that he will justify the long-term commitment from the franchise, Holly MacKenzie of NBA.com writes. “JV is 23 years old,” Toronto GM Masai Ujiri said. “The contract gives him some security and lets him now concentrate on playing basketball and winning. It’s big for us, but we feel he made progress. He’s a great kid. Loves the city, loves the fans, loves everything about Toronto and that’s what we want to embrace here. He showed us a lot on the basketball court and we think he’ll get better.”

Here’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

Celtics coach Brad Stevens believes that the team’s roster continuity from the 2014/15 campaign will lead to improvement this coming season, Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com relays. “[Continuity] should be a benefit. Again, I think my phrase will be, ‘Time will tell,’” said Stevens. “I mean, we’ll see. I think my curiosity lies in how we go to work, how we come together, how much we’re willing to sacrifice for one another and see how this thing plays itself out. But I think you’d rather have guys for a longer period than not and that continuity is a good thing. We have basically nine guys back from our roster that played quite a bit. That’s a good thing, too.“
The Knicks are still in a state of flux because they still lack a second star player, even a borderline one, to team up with Carmelo Anthony, Shaun Powell of NBA.com writes in his preview of the team. Powell does praise team president Phil Jackson for not overspending on second-tier free agents this Summer after New York’s top targets signed elsewhere.
In his look ahead at the Celtics‘ 2015/16 season, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com opines that Marcus Smart, Isaiah Thomas, and Jonas Jerebko are all poised to have breakout seasons for the team.

Raptors Sign Jonas Valanciunas To Extension

August 20th, 2015 at 2:51pm CST by Chuck Myron

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

2:51pm: Valanciunas will simply see $64MM on the deal, as there are no bonuses involved, Wojnarowski clarifies (on Twitter).

2:15pm: The deal is official, the Raptors announced (Twitter link). It’s worth $64MM over four years with a player option on the fourth year, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter links). Bonuses could bring the total value to $70MM, Wojnarowski also indicates.

“Jonas’ contributions continue to improve with each season and we view him as a significant part of what we are building in Toronto,” Ujiri said in the team’s press release.

12:41pm: The Raptors and Jonas Valanciunas have reached agreement on an extension, reports Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca (Twitter link). The team and the Leon Rose client had reportedly been close to a four-year, deal worth more than $60MM earlier this week as they were deeply engaged in negotiations. Valanciunas left training with the Lithuanian national team to travel to Toronto this week and undergo a medical exam, national team coach Jonas Kazlauskas said, strongly hinting that Valanciunas intended to sign a deal.

The extension comes as no surprise after GM Masai Ujiri said this past spring that Valanciunas was “a huge part of our team” for the future. Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun reported in early July that the Raptors planned to work toward extensions with both Valanciunas and Terrence Ross, though the team’s brass has seemed especially high on Valanciunas, as they seemed to blame the coaching staff for slow development in the center’s game. The Raptors and head coach Dwane Casey overhauled the team’s group of assistant coaches, bringing in Rex Kalamian, Andy Greer and Jerry Stackhouse.

A figure in excess of $60MM over four years would make Valanciunas one of the league’s most highly paid big men, far eclipsing the $12MM a year that Nikola Vucevic, a center with greater scoring production and similar defensive issues, will see on the extension he signed with the Magic this past fall. Still, Enes Kanter, another interior scorer who’s proven a liability on defense, came away with a max deal of about $70MM this summer as the economics of the NBA change in advance of the projected leaps in the salary cap. An extension for Valanciunas would take effect starting with the 2016/17 season, the first covered under the league’s $24 billion TV deal.

Sportsnet’s Michael Grange speculated that even $60MM over four years would be low, pegging a $64-66MM arrangement as fair value for the team (Twitter links). Grange compared Valanciunas, the fifth overall pick in the 2011 draft, to Tristan Thompson, the No. 4 pick that year who’s apparently been negotiating north of $80MM over five years with the Cavs. Valanciunas, unlike Thompson, isn’t a restricted free agent this summer because he remained overseas for a year after having been drafted.

I’d gone in the other direction, predicting that Valanciunas would end up with $13-14MM a year when I looked at his extension candidacy earlier this month. The timing of the deal is perhaps the most surprising element, since the sides had until November 2nd to sign an extension, and most extensions for less than the maximum salary don’t come until mere days or even hours before that deadline.

The Raptors have been carrying about $45.5MM on the books for 2016/17, a figure that presumes the team will pick up the rookie scale team options on Lucas Nogueira and Bruno Caboclo. That doesn’t include any money for DeMar DeRozan, who has a $10.05MM player option that early indications show he’s likely to decline. Presuming that new deals for Valanciunas and DeRozan would add up to around $30MM, Toronto would have less than $14MM against a projected $89MM cap to use on Ross or on outside free agents.

Do you think Valanciunas is worth more than $15MM a year in this market? Leave a comment to tell us.

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.