Raptors’ Wish List: Raptors acquire Jonas Valanciunas
One of the biggest areas of need is Toronto’s need for a backup big. Last win against Miami hid the fact that when Jakob Poeltl is out, Toronto is all out of size at the centre position and usually gets dominated on the glass, but with the return of an old fan favourite, Jonas Valanciunas, those troubles could easily be forgotten about.
Why Valanciunas? Well, for one, Toronto desperately needs a centre outside of Poeltl that is over 6 feet 9 inches, as both Sandro Mamukelashvili and Jonathan Mogbo list at 6’9″. Don’t get me wrong, Jonathan Mogbo flashed his potential as a rebounder last year with a triple-double performance against the Charlotte Hornets in a 126-96 win when he put up 17 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists. He’s also had 3 double doubles in his young career, but even as a good rebounder for his size, it isn’t enough.
The same can be said for Mamukelashvili. Don’t get me wrong, he was the steal of the off-season as signing him for 2 years, $5.5 million was a great move by the front office,but he might serve better as a power forward or even a small forward as he’s shown solid handles and deceptive speed. Across five starts, in 31.4 minutes, he’s only averaging six rebounds per game, and trust me, that’s the only part of his game I’m willing to complain about, as he has completely met everyone’s expectations and overdelivered so far.
The second reason why could be a bad reason, but the nostalgia factor is too real for one of the more underrated Raptors in franchise history. You could say the fifth overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft class hasn’t fully lived up to the hype of an early lottery pick, especially given how stacked the class was as the Raptors missed out on big names after him, including Kemba Walker (ninth overall pick), Klay Thompson (11th overall pick), Kawhi Leonard (15th overall pick), Nikola Vucevic (16th overall pick), Tobias Harris (19th overall pick), Jimmy Butler (30th overall pick) and last but surely not least, Isaiah Thomas (last pick of the draft). Despite all that, he has put together a solid career, especially with the Raptors, as he’s averaged 13 points and 9.1 rebounds per game while evolving with the game of basketball. He came into the league with a good mid-range jumper, but would not shoot threes; now he’s a career 33.9 percent shooter from beyond the arc. He’s also all across the board in Raptors franchise numbers after serving seven years for the franchise. He ranks 7th in games played as a Raptor with 470, 10th in minutes played with 11774, 8th in field goals made with 2169, 2nd in offensive rebounds (1209), defensive rebounds(2752) and total rebounds (3961), all behind Chris Bosh. He’s third in blocks with 479, just one shy of the tie with Amir Johnson, ninth in the points category with 5524, and second for double-doubles in franchise history with 137. One could argue that he was underutilized in his time with Toronto, though, as he doesn’t rank in the top 10 for minutes per game. And the biggest throwback of them all… who remembers #FoulonJonas? JV ranked seventh in all-time personal fouls as a Toronto Raptor with 1307 and gave us fans one of the greatest memes back in the day.
In his 14th season, Valanciunas turns 34 on May 6. JV came into the season making headlines as it appeared he was set to make the move to EuroLeague basketball when Greek club Panathinaikos was interested in the Lithuanian’s services despite him still being under contract in the NBA and also being traded over to Denver. His desire for stability after bouncing around team after team was real, and he was intrigued by the possibility of being closer to home, but Valanciunas decided ultimately to commit to the Denver Nuggets and to the NBA.
The Lithuanian Lightning has been serving primarily as a backup centre in his last two seasons, and now that he’s in Denver, behind one of the greatest centres of all time, Nikola Jokic, he’s seeing a career low of 13.1 minutes per game. Still, he is very effective in his short minutes, averaging 8.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 0.6 blocks per game. He recently put up his first double-double of the season and as a Nugget with 12 points, 11 rebounds in just 16 minutes against the Utah Jazz on December 22. With Poeltl in town, averaging 25.3 minutes and having an injury-riddled season, it’s most likely that JV’s minutes would only go up should he land back in Toronto.
So, what’s it going to take for Valanciunas to make a return to the Raptors?
Our first trade includes the 2023 13th overall pick, Gradey Dick, plus 2024 19th overall pick Ja’Kobe Walter. Both haven’t been consistent enough to warrant a solidified spot in the rotation, although they are both still very young and could easily turn things around. Dick was brought in as a three-point specialist, but has been struggling to shoot consistently this season with a 31.1 percentage from three-point land. It looked like Gradey was set for a breakout early last season when Toronto had injuries to Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett and Scottie Barnes, as he had the biggest green light of his young career, and he was doing well. Once the team became healthier, Dick remained in the starting lineup but was failing to find the touches that were once there whenever he wanted. Ja’Kobe Walter has surprisingly been shooting 37.5 percent from beyond the arc, and it would hurt to lose him, as Walter’s best trait is his defensive intensity, which he brings at a pretty consistent level night in and out, even if the shooting touch isn’t there. The sophomore didn’t have the same opportunity as Gradey from last year, but he also showed flashes with a game-winner in Orlando and a career high 27 points in a 114-110 loss to the Houston Rockets just over a year ago last December 22, 2024.
Another trade package, including Gradey Dick and this time it also includes Jonathan Mogbo, whom we covered previously. An undersized big man who’s still developing his outside touch, but he’s shown flashes of what he can do, and he’s a willing passer. Garrett Temple’s loss wouldn’t hurt so much on the court, but mostly off the court, as he is a respected member of the Raptors organization at the moment, who is a rare veteran in a young Raptors roster. He is also the leader of the bench’s bench dance that has become a pre-game tradition this season, so his loss would definitely hurt, but his salary was needed in the transaction.
Both these trades do seem like a bit of an overpay, as Valanciunas was traded in the offseason for Dario Saric, but the main issue was matching salaries in our hypothetical trades, and the Raptors would probably be able to squeeze out a few second-round picks out of Denver, too, if this deal were to go down. It also opens up roster space for a potential new player or two.
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