jonas valanciunas a candidate for rookie of the year?
I watched him play in some friendly games for their national team. No plays were run for him except for alley-oop passes. He is very long and quite atletic, he gets good positioning for rebounds and does a good job finishing off offensive rebounds.
He does still appear to be quite skinny, but maybe that's partly because of the huge european centres, if he managed to play against those 7ft 300lb guys, I guess he should be able to play with NBA centres.
On youtube clips I've seen him make some mid range shots and hook shots, but I don't know how much that is a part of his game. He's kind of an enigma to me, but he seems to fit very well with Bargniani for the Raptors
how about we wait till everyone plays in the nba before we ask questions about what they are capable of doing and if they are capable of competing with the best rookies? Its called a chat forum where we bring up questions and discuss players.
he got bigger i guess he has to be around 245-250 now, but yeah he still needs..
but this kid is in a good situation no one Lietuvos rytas nor our national team force him to be a star..he is just a role player for us and he easily excepts that role and i guess its a plus for him to be successful in the nba early on even if he comes of the bench..he at least will get put backs dunks and will grab ton of rebounds..
his game is improving he has a nice touch he shoots free throws perfectly for a bigmen thanks to lithuanian schools..and recently he played some ball game againt Arvydas Sabonis so that was great experience for him too..
^, he played for the lithuania mens national team in the fiba eurobasket for qualifying for the 2012 olympics against the best teams europe had to offer. Its entirely possible he might not be roy material as you suggest, but to say he didnt play against good comp is silly. Playing at the highest level of comp in europe is tougher then playing college ball in the usa. And i do realize his regular season team from lithuania was a B level squad where he won the league mvp, but he had extensive run with top level comp as well.
valenciunas is a great player but so are many players entering the draft so we can really never tell as of now cuz this is a scary good draft class but he has the potential to be the rookie of the year along with so many others entering in thier rookie season this year im excited as a fan just to see this players live up to thier potential and how they would be able to take thier talents to the next level and how well they would match up with the current nba role players and nba all stars
Seriously i don't see alot of franchise changing players except Anthony Davis but you can never know how a guy will translate into the NBA game.
I see Thomas Robinson as a 18/10 guy in his prime.
MKG as an Iguodala with no playmaking ability.
Barnes is the most interesting prospect for me. He wont be bust because he has a shot and his physical measurements are clearly NBA ready. I'm hoping for him to average 14 in his rookie year.
Bradley Beal looks like E.Gordon's clone.
I alos think Jeremy Lamb is underrated he need to put on some weight. His rookie year he will be a spot up shooter. But like i said before if he will put on some weight he can be really dangerous in the League.
And ofcourse another AD. Andre Drummond.
Will take him 2 to 3 years to finally make impact in this league. But i think the years will be worth waiting for the team who's gonna pick him.
Bonus:
Terrence Jones might be a steal. I see him as a more athletic Chris Bosh type of a guy. He's even more athletic than CB.
Perry Jones: He needs to play his real position the 4. I feel really sad for him. He have slide from TOP-5 pick consideration to 20's.
@Lodzio20
1. I don't call you dumb I call your facts DUMB.
2. He participated in leagues such as VTB league, Eurocup and the Lithuanian league.
Yet Lithuanian league may not be the strongest but the top teams would easily beat the Kentucky.
It's organized basketball with men trying to earn a bigger paycheck.
And we were talking about the Lithuanian league.
Eurocup is even stronger league it's 2nd strongest league in Europe.
And he was named All-Eurocup 1st team.
Two stronges teams in Lithuania - Lietuvos rytas and Zalgiris, are probably as strong as any college in NCAA + they have experience of many years of pro basketball which is very important asset. Yes, the other teams in Lithuanian basketball league aren't as good as top universities but I think that comparition to mid-major colleges is pretty accurate.
However, from the NBA talent standpoint nor Rytas, nor Zalgiris don't have nearly as much pure talent as UK or UNC, but as I mentioned before they have experience, more muscles, better understanding of game etc.
Talking about Valanciunas, he must continue hitting the gym hard, his lower body looks good, strong definetely not skinny legs, but his upper body has to continue filling up. His arms still look pretty similiar to Kevin Durant's. Still, he is very interesting prospect, who most likely will not be asked to create his own offense in his first season or two but with becoming stronger, more mature and polishing skills he can become a force not only defensively, but offensively too. This upcoming season, however, he will probably focus on rebounding, defense, pick and roll and putbacks.
This is an interesting thread but assuming he is healthy all season, I find it hard to believe anyone can beat out Anthony Davis as ROY. He is one of the most talented college players I ever saw, a rare can't miss rookie. Even if he doesn't score many points, his defensive skills alone should be enough to win the award.
Davis is so young and such an incredible talent, I would be shocked if New Orleans doesn't make the playoffs next year. In my opinion, this discussion should be focused on who will be the 2nd best rookie.
I don't know if NO makes the playoffs next year, but I agree that Davis should be the favorite for ROY. As a supposedly raw 19 year old freshman, he was the best player on the best team in college basketball. He was not only the best defensive player for the best defensive team in college basketball, but he was the best offensive player for the 2nd best offensive team in college basketball by the numbers.
Valanciunas is likely the top candidate to beat him out, though. He will likely get plenty of playing time and figures to be productive early on.
Excellent post B-Ball! The only real difference between us is I think the player, whose achievements you thoroughly documented, is so talented, he can literally transform the culture at NO into a winning one.
I'm older than almost everybody in this forum and I've been watching basketball for decades. I'm one of the few guys in this forum who actually saw Bill Russell play when I was a kid growing up in NYC. I think Anthony Davis is the second coming of Bill Russell with the addition of offensive skills BR never posessed.
I read good things about Valanciunas but never saw him play. This isn't a knock on him, but I find it hard to imagine how anyone could possibly beat out Davis.
It depends where some of the prospects fall but I feel that Valancuinas has a great chance considering the situation in Toronto is kind of ideal for him. He can focus on rebounding and scoring off out-backs and around the basket whilst blocking shots on D. His experience will only help (as we saw with Rubio this year), it helps a lot to be used to playing professionally. Depending on who lands where I think it'll be between Jonas, Davis and T-Rob (as he will put up more well rounded numbers if he goes to Charlotte).
Im just throwing this out there becasue i think some people might have forgotten about last years number 5 overall pick by the toronto raptors. I dont know much about him other then what his wiki page says and that includes being named the 2011 U19 fiba world championships mvp where he averaged 23 and 14 with 3 blocks and shot a great % from the field. In the game vs team USA, lithuania lost by 2 points but jonas had 30 and 15. Compare that with americas center from that game meyers leonard who is expected to be a lotto pick this draft who only got 3 and 3 in that game. Jonas also played a solid role this past year since the 2011 draft for the mens lithuanian national team where he averaged 8 and 4 in 15 minutes per game. Not great numbers, but we know how the euro system doesnt really cater to teenagers who are making their debut at the highest level.
Anyways, any other info about him and what do you think he can bring to the raptors right away in year one? With him and the #8 pick coming in to join derozan, barganni, ed davis calderon and bayless, do the raptors have things headed in the right direction?