Raptors, Valanciunas agree to extension

Masai Ujiri and the Toronto Raptors have answered that question with reports of a new, four-year, $60 million contract extension set to kick in ahead of the 2016-17 season.

Let’s get one thing straight: $15 million a year is a lot of money.

Whether or not it was right for Casey to use such a short leash with Valanciunas is an interesting debate in and of itself, but if you’re wondering if JV has shown enough in what time he has been afforded to earn this lucrative new extension, the answer is absolutely.

Valanciunas averaged a career-high 12 points last season and finished second to Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan with a. 572 field goal percentage. He averaged 11.3 points and 9.3 rebounds in four playoff games. Opponents shot 46.5 percent when Valanciunas was within five feet of the rim, a rate that puts him among the * a href=”http://stats.nba.com/tracking/#!/player/defense/?CF=FGA_DEFEND_RIM*GE*5&Season=2014-15&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&sort=FGP_DEFEND_RIM&dir=-1″ *NBA’s best rim protectors. While Valanciunas hasn’t quite lived up to fantasy owners’ expectations, he’s still just 23 years old and is a solid mid-round target in standard league drafts.

Two concerns I have is that Dwane Casey and Valanciunas will not be able to “play nice”. The Lithuanian big man was poised to accept a max contract offer sheet of four yours and $80 million from any National Basketball Association team that Toronto would have been hard pressed not to match. “I think that’s going to be our nature of building here”. It’s actually good preparation.

So in order to make a KD deal possible, Toronto will need to release six players of its current roster. The Raptors also signed free agent forwards DeMarre Carroll, Bismack Biyombo, Luis Scola and Canadian guard Cory Joseph.

If they are to get over that hump, Valanciunas will likely be a big reason why. He’s got great lateral movement and is pretty savvy in his play overall.