Everything Valanciunas

[isaacthompson]

lets trade JV for Drummond.

Dumars may just be stupid enough to take that.

[TSF]

Dumars may just be stupid enough to take that.

Seriously though... This is the guy who was offered Rondo and Ray Allen in '09 for Rip, Prince, and Stuckey. Traded Afflalo for a 2nd. Traded Chauncey for AI at the very end of his career. I BELIEVE IN YOU JOE!

[YoungGunRaptor]

Wow, maybe that chance does exist haha!

But wow, anyone(including myself) who says that developing into a strong center in this league takes years should look at Drummond. Wow, what a monster he is, and he is only 20 years old.

[consmap]

I think regardless of position, some players simply just take longer to develop than others.
We already have a great example of this on our roster in DeMar, when he was first drafted who knew that he would become the player that he is now?
All we can do is see what JV makes of his NBA opportunity.

[iblastoff]

Wow, maybe that chance does exist haha!

But wow, anyone(including myself) who says that developing into a strong center in this league takes years should look at Drummond. Wow, what a monster he is, and he is only 20 years old.

because drummond represents all bigs in the league? no. the majority of bigs DO take a while. theres always an exception to the rule.

[YoungGunRaptor]

Of course. Im just admiring how spectacular Drummond's growth has been in one year.

Im a believer in JV. Have been since we drafted him, and I think that like Derozan, the potential is there. With time, effort, and sincere passion, I think that JV will become a star one day.

[Jclaw]

Of course. Im just admiring how spectacular Drummond's growth has been in one year.

Im a believer in JV. Have been since we drafted him, and I think that like Derozan, the potential is there. With time, effort, and sincere passion, I think that JV will become a star one day.

Drummond has been a sensation this year but don't hold this against jv. Drummond is big and solid. You don't teach that. It doesn't have to develop. He reaches up for a rebound. He takes up space. He can slam dunk. He can't hit free throws. I haven't seem much of a post game. Can he hit a jump shot? It's kind of one dimensional. That's not without merit. Shaq made quite a career from that dimension. But jv has a skillset that has tons of room to develop and a body he is still growing into. Do you ever hear someone say "wait til Drummond puts on a bit more weight". Drummond may be winning the race at this point but I think he may be the hare to jv's tortoise.

[YoungGunRaptor]

Drummond has been a sensation this year but don't hold this against jv. Drummond is big and solid. You don't teach that. It doesn't have to develop. He reaches up for a rebound. He takes up space. He can slam dunk. He can't hit free throws. I haven't seem much of a post game. Can he hit a jump shot? It's kind of one dimensional. That's not without merit. Shaq made quite a career from that dimension. But jv has a skillset that has tons of room to develop and a body he is still growing into. Do you ever hear someone say "wait til Drummond puts on a bit more weight". Drummond may be winning the race at this point but I think he may be the hare to jv's tortoise.

You make many excellent points, and I agree with you. Drummond is definitely a unique physical specimen, but as his athleticism recedes, then he might not be able to play at the level he is right now.

Guys like Abdul Jabbar and Hakeem the dream had long, healthy, incredible careers not just because they were tall and dominant, but because they their free throw shooting, post moves, and overall maintenance of a healthy, game ready state.

JV has that potential to do the same. Im happy he's here in Toronto, and like many other things in life, I think patience will be key in order to reap the most bountiful of rewards. He's definitely got special talent, and I hope that he finds out how to use it on court and make the Raptors into playoff contenders.

Thanks for opening my eyes to see the greater picture.

[stooley]

Here's a thought I had:

The biggest thing working against present Jonas is the same thing that will make him great in a few years: he really, really wants to be good.

I feel like he's overthinking everything because he isn't necessarily comfortable yet. His mind looks like it's racing on the court, trying to determine what the best play is. I think this is helping him learn the game, but is hurting his performance.

Good athletes are able to calm down and play in "the zone". It's a type of focus that helps slow down everything going on around you, a type of serenity.

I think Jonas' effort right now will pay off later and make him better once he finally calms down, since he'll have really figured out the NBA game, thought through everything, and hopefully play with a purpose every possession.

[Puffer]

Here's a thought I had:

The biggest thing working against present Jonas is the same thing that will make him great in a few years: he really, really wants to be good.

I feel like he's overthinking everything because he isn't necessarily comfortable yet. His mind looks like it's racing on the court, trying to determine what the best play is. I think this is helping him learn the game, but is hurting his performance.

Good athletes are able to calm down and play in "the zone". It's a type of focus that helps slow down everything going on around you, a type of serenity.

I think Jonas' effort right now will pay off later and make him better once he finally calms down, since he'll have really figured out the NBA game, thought through everything, and hopefully play with a purpose every possession.

Could be. My recollection is that he had a much more "natural" or "relaxed" game by the middle of his first season. He seemed to understand the larger patterns and flow of play (admittedly different in the NBA than what he was used to) and just reacted to them.

Now he has an even better understanding of the "NBA style" of play and is more familiar with the players, so knows more about what he should do but it hasn't been internalized yet. He is halfway though the transformation from unconscious incompetent to conscious competent. That is, he is now at the conscious incompetent stage, so is, as you say, thinking about what the correct move is and it is bogging him down. Next year a lot of the things he has to think about (which way does this guy turn after the second fake left) will be internalized and he will just be reacting automatically. At least we can hope so.

[MACK11]

JV dunks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eUNnPU4YHU

You can really tell that the weight has affected JV's mobility this year. Look how lively he was in the video compared to now

[GLF]

JV dunks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eUNnPU4YHU

You can really tell that the weight has affected JV's mobility this year. Look how lively he was in the video compared to now

Yea it really has! I wonder what he has to do to get used to his body and gain his athleticism back? Because I thought by now he would have gotten more used to it. He needed to gain weight, but so far this season the weight gain has seemed to only hurt him and not help him. It's not like he isn't getting pushed around anymore or is guarding the post better so to me it was purposeless. Hopefully time will prove me wrong. This is a big reason why I don't want Terrence gaining weight because his biggest asset right now other than his shooting is his athleticism. If he loses any quickness or leaping ability it will really hurt his game big time. And that can also end up affecting his shot. We saw what weight gain did to Rudy while he was here (if that was even part of the reason for his efficient shooting)

[BigCamB]

I can't see Terrence gaining much more weight to be honest.

[mcHAPPY]

JV dunks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eUNnPU4YHU

You can really tell that the weight has affected JV's mobility this year. Look how lively he was in the video compared to now

Wow.

I always knew but to see it on video......

I think there is a tendency to forget he is 21.

He'll adapt.

[Rapstor4Life]

JV really needs to play bigger and go up strong literally every time no silly tips when you can literally grab and dunk. COME ON JV! this at least means he'll go to the ft line more often Butch Carter really exposed him a month ago on his game.