There’s been a ton of talk about former Raptors coming back to the franchise, and now a new name has joined this group as Jonas Valanciunas has hit the open market. Wednesday evening, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that the Denver Nuggets were waiving veteran Valanciunas, and that he is expected to receive interest from multiple NBA teams.
With Valanciunas now a free agent, a return to Canada feels like a match made in heaven for both him and the Raptors. Toronto is in dire need of a backup center, and Jv is likely looking to join a playoff team with championship aspirations where he can still get playing time—two things the Raptors can offer him.
It’s been seven years since Valanciunas was a Raptor, and after missing out on the franchise's first run to the NBA Finals, bringing him back for a potential second one would be a great story. But the story isn’t the only reason Bobby Webster should look to bring the Lithuanian big man back, as he still has some real gas in the tank.
It’s time to bring JV home
When looking at the checklist of ideal traits the Raptors would be looking for in a backup center, a few that come to mind are: strong rebounder, floor spacing, veteran experience, quality screen-setting, and durability.
When you look at what JV provides at this stage of his career, he checks each of those boxes. Starting with the rebounding, where, despite maybe not being elite in that facet of the game anymore, he is still well above average. This past season for Denver, Valanciunas was in the 92nd percentile in defensive rebound percentage and the 82nd percentile in offensive rebounding percentage, according to Cleaning the Glass.
For a 34-year-old big man, those numbers are really impressive and could provide a massive boost to a Raptors team that didn’t have a beast on the boards off the bench last season.
When it comes to floor spacing, he isn’t some knockdown sure thing in the pick-and-pop, but with a career three-point percentage of 34 percent, he’s still a threat defenses still have to respect from range. With Scottie Barnes at the helm, who gets doubled anytime he steps two feet from the paint, having another guy he can kick out to would be nice, especially with Sandro Mamukelashvili's departure.
One part of his game that hasn’t lost a step is JV’s ability to set bone-crushing screens that free up shooters or create driving lanes. At 265 pounds, he would immediately be the Raptors' best screener, and come playoff time, that skill is extremely valuable in creating offensive advantages.
The biggest piece of evidence that should convince Toronto to go all in on bringing Valanciunas back is that he is consistently healthy. With Poeltl always in and out of the lineup, having JV as a backup would be great insurance if Poeltl were to go down. Since departing from the Raptors in 2018-19, he has played in 62 or more games every year and has even reached the 79-plus mark three times. That type of health isn’t common, especially at the center spot, and should be the cherry on top for Bobby Webster when evaluating if JV is worth bringing back.
Last season, Valanciunas averaged 8.7 points and 5.4 rebounds per game in just 13.4 minutes per game. If Toronto could plug those stats behind a Jakob Poeltl double-double, they should feel super confident about their frontcourt given the rest of this roster's makeup.
Toronto has been searching for a backup center solution, and the perfect one just hit the free agent market for them to take. While some may want to focus on other Raptors reunions, the one that matters is Jonas Valanciunas.
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