Jonas Valanciunas. Damian Lillard. Josh Selby. John Wall. Blake Griffin. Jerryd Bayless. Nate Robinson. Randy Foye. These are all the summer league MVPs from previous years. Three bonafide superstars (Lillard, Wall and Griffin). One savvy veteran (Robinson). Two league average players (Bayless, Foye) and a no name (Selby – playing for the Cedevita Zagreb of the Croatian League). Just a fancy way of saying, Summer League MVPs don’t always lead to a prosperous careers. Last year, JV was one of the few bright spots of a gloomy season. This year, he hasn’t lived up to the almost unfair expectations of the rabid Raptors fan base. Raptors fans, it’s time to have the talk about Brother Jonas.
Repeat after me: He is only twenty one years old, 21! He is averaging 10 points and 9 rebounds while being limited to 28 minutes per game. No, he isn’t dropping double-doubles like Tim Hortons in SCH (0 for 6 on Roll Up the Rim) but he is passing the eye-test. The eye-test is a term used by scouts and self-proclaimed Raptors experts to describe if a player actually plays. Jonas does the dirty work that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet. He screens hard, executes pick and roll/pop nicely and rolls to the rim hard for the offensive rebounding opportunity.
Every Raptors game has at least 2-3 plays where Jonas gets the team an extra possession by being in good position to get the offensive rebound. He is strong in the paint but his shot fakes are legendary in the basketball community (for comical reasons mostly). He has polished his game and added a sweet 15 footer from the top of the free throw line which opens up the spacing on the offensive end. Even though he hits it consistently, he needs to have more confidence in that shot.
Valanciunas is still a step slower on the defensive end and needs to master the art of footwork as he is guarding the quicker players in the league. Even though the Raptors are ranked 4th in the NBA for least points scored against, his slow reaction time as a help defender hurts the Raptors front court. As the season comes to a conclusion and playoffs approach, JV may need to take a backseat to veterans such as Johnson, Hayes and Patterson. The playoff experience will be a great asset under JV’s belt as he will have a chance to battle and learn from veterans such as Kevin Garnett, David West, Joakim Noah and Paul Millsap.
Casey can probably help Valanciunas out a tiny bit by lengthening his leash — letting Valanciunas play through a few more mistakes. He has frequently said that despite their record, the Raptors are still prioritizing the development of their young players, and Valanciunas is arguably the most important young player they have. There is a fine line there, though, between letting Valanciunas learn and contributing to the destruction of his confidence. It is hard to blame the coach too much for trying to protect his centre.
One thing you can always count on from JV is that he is always bringing 100% effort and 1000% heart (mathematically impossible but whatever. Sue me). He is only a sophomore and still learning the nuisances of the game. The most important thing is that he has time to develop as a cornerstone for a winning team, which is an experience not many players are lucky enough to have. There will be growing pains associated with JV and that is part of the fun as a fan. His raw potential combined with his high work ethic will yield great results in the future, barring an injury. Brother Jonas is going to be alright, but I can’t say the same about the Jonas Brothers. JV may never turn into Kevin Garnett, Blake Griffin or Kevin Love but he also won’t be playing in the Croatian Basketball League anytime soon.
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