A report from Monday had the parties discussing a four-year deal worth more than $60 million. Kanter and Valanciunas have similar games, but even Valanciunas has been a better defender.
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Either way, JV will play a large role in the team’s future, and now it’s up to him to produce and prove the Raptors right. Ross averaged 9.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and one assist per game in 2014-15.
Sorry, this video is not available in your country/region. A person with knowledge of the deal tells The Associated Press it is worth $64 million. And similarly how can someone in Valanciunas’ position feel like he came cheaply?
The Raptors have won consecutive Atlantic Division titles but have not reached the second round since the 2000-01 season.
Jonas Valanciunas is one of those divisive players. He also on Lithuania’s national team as it tries to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics. Dwane Casey, frankly, just hasn’t found the best way to utilize his talents.
“I was happy”, he said, when asked about the offer he received. He’s great in the pick-and-roll too, scoring 1.12 PPP in his 76 attempts, good enough for the 78th percentile. They take me as if I’m from here.
The 23-year-old center would have become a free agent next summer, but Toronto avoids that with this extension. The seven-footer played just 292 fourth-quarter minutes last season, which ranked 254th in the league and were just 14.0 percent of his total minutes. He’s only 22 years old, and looks to be getting better every season in the league. He attempted 15 shots or more in eight games for his entire career.
Alas, we won’t find out, with Valanciunas apparently opting for the security of signing now. The knock on the fourth-year center is defensive consistency. A lot can be made of Valanciunas’ flaws.
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The Raptors and Valanciunas have until October 31 to get an extension done, as that is the deadline for all players who debuted in 2012, but they likely won’t need that much time as the deal should reportedly be done within the next few days.
