Toronto Raptors: Whose stock is up/down, including Kyle Lowry’s resurgence

Jonas Valanciunas – Stock Down

It was all going so well for JV, Draymond had to go and ruin it.

Jonas had his way around the basket in his eight minutes of action. He accumulated six points and seven boards until Green swiped and JV in the post and dislocated his thumb.

Reversing back to Friday night, JV started against the Nets and had a great game offensively. 24 points and eight boards on 10-15 shooting, Valanciunas was getting all the looks he needed and dominated in the post.

However, his weakness is still visible: defending the pick-and-roll. Valanciunas dropped too deep and allowed De’Angelo Russell to take aim from mid-range multiple times; it was a nightmare. Let’s look past that and take his offensive value as a credible threat because it is. Jonas looks more aggressive in the post and willing to run in transition.

Sunday was a certified nightmare. JV played 13 minutes and performed poorly at every turn, he can’t match-up with Brook Lopez, who is now a real perimeter threat and that is a cause for concern. JV is still a defensive liability, and come playoff time, that potentially means fewer minutes; sadly his defensive limitations outweigh his offensive output.

Sometimes though, his value on offense can shine. JV had a nice bounce-back game against the Clippers, scoring 16 points in 18 minutes, adding five boards and he didn’t turn the ball over once. Jonas has shown that he can take over a game at times, and having someone who can do that is nice, especially when it translates to defense. It’s rare, but it can happen.

JV’s week, and probably his next couple of weeks at least, came to an end when things were starting to look up. It was an up and down week, but sadly the injury slides this into the down column.

Wishing you the best, JV.