Draft Profile: Jonas Valanciunas

[KakashiPrince]

i rather have kanter than Jonas Valanciunas........at least kanter have an nba ready body, great foot work, and more offensive weapons then jonas


Jonas.... he is pretty quick against other centers but he sometimes fumbles the ball...very raw offensively........

Hope Kanter dropped down to 5..........

[Chr1s1anL]

You really can't go wrong with Jonas at #5. He might be a project but with a huge reward at the end.

[hateslosing]

I'd be happy with Val, he's a high potential pick with massive upside. He is one of the only guys in the draft that has the potential to be the best player in the draft and become a franchise guy. To me it really depends if he is for sure coming over. If he is then he may be the best pick at 5, if he isn't I'd pass and take another high risk guy like Walker or Biyombo. At this spot we are almost guaranteed to either take a big project or get a guy with some pretty big question marks so a legit 7 foot guy with a high motor sounds pretty good.

[Raúl]

He's not younger both are '92 and Biyombo's age has been questioned. Jonas is a true Center, has great euroleague experience compared to Biyombo (who plays for a middle of the pack Spanish team) and he's with 18 y.o. the best rebounder per 40 minutes in the Euroleague.

Biyombo has some attention because of his wingspan and block ability but his wingspan is just an inch longer than Jonas and he has not size to play the post. Plus we know he's blocking ability has to develope to succed in the NBA. Jonas is the best prospect at Center and the best international prospect. He has the higher celling of all the candidates

[RaptorDan]

A lot of people had Alabi going in the 20s. That's one of the reasons why the Raptors felt they got such a steal. He fell due to having hepatitis B.

He should have fallen further because he sucks.

[Tim W.]

bro I seen one of his where he had alabi going in the 20's

A lot of people had Alabi going in the 20s. That's one of the reasons why the Raptors felt they got such a steal. He fell due to having hepatitis B.

[Tank]

I'd rather have Kanter. Maybe Cavs take Valanciunas at 4, leaving Kanter up for grabs at 5th. Valanciunas has a nice wingspan, is athletic, and can block shots, but he's got a ton of work to do on his body, to be honest, I see him as a poor man's Pau Gasol. If you are going to draft a centre, draft one with some bulk and a thick trunk. We have enough slight, wiry guys on the team.

[Quixotic]

chad ford's mock draft from 2010 http://slumz.boxden.com/f16/espn-cha...draft-1369080/

the guy is not accurate at all

Kind of hard to fault someone for a mock draft when who was actually picking where hadn't been decided. It makes a pretty big difference, you know.

As for Alabi, a lot of mock drafts had him going anywhere from ~20 to ~40. Even this one here by Draftexpress, and they even had the benefit of making that mock 18 minutes before the draft:

http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-mock-draft/2010/

[Quixotic]

Hopefully we don't get him.



If we are going to get a "project" it should be Bismack. He's younger, more ability defensively and freakish athleticism.

Not that I'm advocating for Valanciunas (should be obvious by now I'm not that high on him), but Biyombo is only "younger" by three and a half months. And that's only if his birth date is accurate.

[grindhouse]

He was as close as anyone with that draft. And that was a full two months beforehand. I'd say he was pretty damn accurate, quite frankly, considering.

bro I seen one of his where he had alabi going in the 20's

[Chr1s1anL]

Fifth Overall Pick

Q: What are your overall feelings on tonight?
Colangelo: There are obviously a bunch of players we're going to have to look at. We have our work cut out for us going into this process, kind of narrowing down who we think might go in those top spots, especially in the three and four spots. We like six or seven players in this draft. I actually think there are quite a few that will be impact players in this league for years to come, and it was short on star power. You might argue that there are only a few stars, and they're right there at the top. We'll see how it plays out. I don't think it's a dramatic fall back, in terms of falling from three to five. In fact, we'll get a little more relief in terms of the salary cap, which will free up some money to maybe do some other things. We have to look at it as we're going to get a quality player at five, and do what we have to do that.

Q: At five, do you want to maybe address a need or just take the best available talent?
Colangelo: I've been saying all along, I think we're a team that has a long way to go, but you take the best talent. Obviously, we'll look at all the circumstances before I say that without hesitation. We've got to look at what other things happen between now and draft night, with respect to trade conversations, have to start lining up what free agent prospects we have. I think we're probably going to be taking the best player.

Q: If you keep that pick, are you hopeful that you'll be getting a rotation player?
Colangelo: It's probably too early to say that. We're committed to the development of young players. We've shown that with Ed Davis and DeMar DeRozan the last two years. Years ago, Andre Bargnani got the chance to play a lot as a rookie. With so many young players and so many things uncertain about the roster, it's hard to say whether or not the number five pick will be a rotation guy or an impact player next year. It might take a few years to get everything you want out of that pick.

From DraftExpress.com http://www.draftexpress.com/article/...#ixzz1MfmQl2mG
http://www.draftexpress.com

[RaptorDan]

Its true, we have no idea how old Bismack is.

[Tim W.]

chad ford's mock draft from 2010 http://slumz.boxden.com/f16/espn-cha...draft-1369080/

the guy is not accurate at all

He was as close as anyone with that draft. And that was a full two months beforehand. I'd say he was pretty damn accurate, quite frankly, considering.

[Tim W.]

Hopefully we don't get him.



If we are going to get a "project" it should be Bismack. He's younger, more ability defensively and freakish athleticism.

Or Bismark could be older. We just don't know, do we?

[Tim W.]

If he really is going to stay in Europe for a couple of more years, I don't see him going in the top ten. Look at what happened to Splitter's stock when he was drafted. That said, I would have no problem if the Raptors drafted him and he didn't come right away. They aren't doing anything next year, anyway.