We’ve discussed at length many times this season that Jonas Valanciunas is one of the lone bright spots in an otherwise dark situation for the Raptors, and on Tuesday, we got more evidence of that as Valanciunas was named to the NBA’s All-Rookie Second Team.
If you thought Wednesday’s season finale meant things would be slow in Raptor Land, think again. On Thursday, Bill Simmons published Part 1 of his annual list of the NBA’s top 50 most valuable assets, which included Jonas Valanciunas at No. 44 (just ahead of Enes Kanter and Andre Drummond, just behind Kenneth Faried).
More importantly, Simmons included this tidbit…
Seeing Jonas Valanciunas in a neck brace and on a stretcher at the end of Tuesday night’s game in Chicago was certainly concerning, but thankfully, the injury doesn’t sound to be too serious and Valanciunas is a gametime decision for Friday’s game against the Bulls.
Nonetheless, even if an overly cautious approach saw the flexion extension injury end Valanciunas’ rookie season, we’ve seen more than enough from Jonas to continue to favourably project the big man’s development going forward.
The Raptors scored 100 points for the first time in 10 games and barely hung on against a severely shorthanded Bulls team to reach the 30-win plateau for the first time in three years.
Hooray for slightly less futile futility!
The Raps were in cruise control for the majority of the night before narrowly escaping an all too familiar fourth quarter meltdown in what was a pretty ugly finish.
Now here are some thoughts on the game…
Jonas Valanciunas may well be on his way to an Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month honour for April after starting the month with 53 points, 20 rebounds and 10 blocks through his first three games, but it was the big Lithuanian’s performance in March that has earned him his first such award.
