Valanciunas finalizing a 4YR/60M+ extension with Toronto

Quite a juggernaut they are building up there.

 

He has improved every year and is super solid.

The big question for me having not watched the Raptors enough is why does he only play 26-28 mpg? If he could put in 36 mpg, he'd be 16-20ppg and 11rpg, and well worth the money.

 

Yeah... I've not been impressed with his defense, which is why i didn't mention it

Just leaving out the negatives!!

In all seriousness, I think he has time/ability to improve there. It's easy to forget he's only 22. But he does need to get a lot better defensively. Is that why he only plays 26-28 mpg?

 

Something weird was going on with him and his coach last year. Seems like he wasn't getting consistent playing time and he looked like he had no confidence in his game. He's huge, athletic enough in the post, and has decent touch - no reason he couldn't be a solid Center in the league but I agree that he does seem a step behind on the PnR and looks flat footed in general on his defensive rotations.

 

1, defense, 2, black hole, 3, not much of a shooter.

He's still a talented big man, very good rebounder, good touch, and defensively he has weaknesses, but he's not completely terrible, he's a big strong body who protects the rim a little.

But I think his minutes were reasonable. They picked their spots with him, in some matchups they went to him, in some matchups they glued him to the bench.

 

Only one big in the NBA got 36 mpg last year -- Anthony Davis, and barely so, at 36.1.

It looks like 34 is the new 36 in the NBA for bigs.

 

He is overall a bit better than Kanter and that's about it.

And Kanter got a max contract.

So this extension actually sounds "decent" for the Raptors if you will only compare him to Kanter.

 

Its not about how much mins he played last year, its about how he played.

He had been pulled so often when the games was down to the wire and does not seem to be trusted by his coach.

To be fair, the whole Raptors team almost totally collapsed the whole second half of last season, he is not the main reason for the problem but he is for sure part of the problem, just like Lowry.

But then again, its all about options and choices, when a team has to overpay a role player from the Hawks, this move actually makes more sense.

 

Yep, it's ok. 15 mil is the new 8 mil. He's a young big man, he still has some potential. He might become a borderline all star in 5 years.

It's a good extension, teams might've gone crazy next summer and some might've offered him the max. The rookie max next year could be around 23-24 mil a year, so 15 mil or so will look pretty cheap.

 

Very unfortunate that a superstar of his caliber is getting severely underpaid.

 

Needs to learn that you're allowed to pass the ball when you get double-teamed

 

120 mil for Valanciunas and Carroll?

Title contenders, IMO

 

If they get out of round 2 in the East, that would probably be like winning a championship in their owners' eyes, since they never went past round 2 in their franchise history. Heck, they even got to round 2 just twice maybe.

I like that they are rebuilding the image of their organization. Until a couple years ago they were a perennial joke, this year LaMarcus Aldridge gave them an interview, for them that's huge progress.

Their real chance to win probably won't come in Lowry's prime. Their best chance to get to that level is probably next year's Knicks'/Denver pick. If it's a good pick, and they find a star, they might be really good in 3-4 years.

 

^^this^^

 

FOR people who don't realize it, Toronto is a HUGE market in terms of money. The Raptors are an elite franchise in terms of monetary potential. Much, much bigger than Houston, for instance. Toronto is the "New York City" of Canada. The Maple Leafs are worth more than the Yankees, I believe.

 

He sucks