Toronto Raptors big man Jonas Valanciunas has signed a four-year, $64 million extension, the team announced Thursday. Valanciunas' new deal will begin in the 2016-17 season.
Jonas Valanciunas signs 4-year, $64 million extension with Raptors
Valanciunas left Lithuania, who is preparing for Eurobasket 2015, in order to sign his new deal. It is unclear when (and whether) he will return to the team. Lithuania's first game is against Ukraine on Sept. 5.
The fourth-year Raptors’ big man has seen his production improve steadily since a promising rookie season, but he’s failed to make the leap into stardom just yet. While his post scoring and rebounding is excellent, he’s struggled with coach Dwane Casey’s defensive schemes and often disappears in games. Casey often sat Valanciunas during the fourth quarter last season in order to play quicker lineups. Nevertheless, Valanciunas posted a career-best shooting percentage and had a PER over 20 last season.
The Raptors believe Valanciunas still has a lot of upside and are paying him like it. They certainly have reason to be optimistic. Valanciunas has shown flashes of becoming a dominant big man and is only 23, so there's plenty of room for him to continue growing. This extension, much like their summer decisions, shows a tremendous amount of faith in his development. The next step is to make him a bigger part of their offense -- he finished just 19.1 of Toronto's offensive possessions last year, well behind guards Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, Lou Williams and Greivis Vasquez.
Had Valanciunas and the Raptors failed to come to a deal before Oct. 31, he would have become a restricted free agent next summer. With so many teams possessing cap space, the Raptors decided it was better to lock Valanciunas up now than risk him signing a maximum-contract offer sheet next summer.
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