Surely the Toronto Raptors won’t trade Jonas Valanciunas.
Or, you know, maybe they will.
Valencianas has been one of the more polarizing trade-rumor magnets over the last couple years. He can be a ball-stopper, doesn’t pass enough and isn’t you’re typical modern-day big man in that he seldom shoots outside 10 feet of the basket. The thinking was that, with general manager Masai Ujiri reinventing the roster, Toronto would move the 23-year-old 7-footer.
But then the Raptors signed him to a four-year, $64 million extension over the offseason. Any long-term commitment to Valanciunas is a gamble at this point, since he hasn’t shown much on the defensive end or in the way of offensive transformation over the last three years, but the deal has the potential to reach bargain-bin status within the NBA’s newly steep salary climate.
And yet, not everyone is convinced Toronto won’t eventually move on from this experiment. Based on what Grantland’s Zach Lowe is hearing, it seems many rival teams/executives are waiting for the Raptors to make their tower available:
Everyone is watching Jonas Valanciunas. Trade suitors are convinced Toronto is lukewarm on him, and rival executives are curious about how Valanciunas might fare in another system — and whether a post-up 7-footer with so-so feet on defense can flourish in the modern NBA.
Teams don’t usually extend players with the primary intent of trading them soon after. But if there was a front-office face willing to plan that far ahead, willing to bank on his initial investment yielding almost immediate returns, it’s Ujiri. Players are not untouchable to him just because they’re under certain contracts, new or old. This is a guy who’s trying make the Raptors contenders, and he hasn’t shied away from big moves in the past.
The Raptors have also made it abundantly obvious that Valanciunas is, at best, their third option. They already have Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, two All-Stars, and they added DeMarre Carroll in free agency, who brings with him a new floor-spacing, passing-packed dynamic that suggests Toronto is doubling down on its perimeter corps, essentially building from the outside in.
Realistically, Valanciunas could end up being the Raptors’ No. 4 option, unless something about him (passing and offensive range, for starters) or the team’s approach changes. And $64 million is an awful lot of money to pay someone when you’re marginalizing his greatest strength without the benefit of knowing he can give you something on the defensive end.
Maybe Valanciunas trade rumors heat up once again as we near the February deadline. Or maybe he breaks out, ending all speculation. Shit, maybe that potential breakout only acts as an incendiary device. Who knows. Not us, that’s for sure.
When it comes to Valanciunas’ future in Toronto, it seems we never do.
