Jonas Valanciunas could elevate these 3 teams to the next level

After a relatively mellow last couple of trade deadlines around the NBA, the Washington Wizards are a team primed to shake up the complexion of the league by this year’s Feb. 6 deadline.

One of Washington’s most valuable trade assets is center Jonas Valanciunas, who left the New Orleans Pelicans to sign a 3 year, $30 million contract with the Wizards this summer. That contract, in the neighborhood of $10 million per year, made my ears perk up as a student of the trade deadline — now that is a tradeable contract. 

Valanciunas is too productive a veteran player to make any sense as a long-term investment for the Wizards. His $10 million salary is a totally reasonable pill to swallow for any cap-starved contending team, and it streamlines salary aggregation to make a trade relatively easy to pull off. 

I like Valanciunas as a player — he’s a no-nonsense big that works fine enough as a starter, but as a depth piece on a contending team, there would be few more valuable players coming off the bench around the league. 

So who makes sense as a Valanciunas suitor?

Sacramento Kings

I recently wrote an in-depth piece about the Kings ahead of their matchup with the Wizards on Sunday, which you can find here. 

In short, this Kings team has been better than their record suggested all season long, and they’ve had a fire lit under them since firing head coach Mike Brown. Sac Town is 9-2 since former King Doug Christie took over, and they’re finally working their way back into the West’s middle class with a record more reflective of their on-court production.

I really like the idea of Jonas Valanciunas backing up Domantas Sabonis. Sabonis is one of the best centers in the NBA, but his wildly versatile offensive skillset masks his defensive frailty relative to other players at his position. 

Now, don’t mistake this for me singing the praises of Valanciunas’ defense — I just think having a larger, immovable center in their back pocket for certain matchups would benefit the Kings, especially come playoff time. Also, the Kings literally do not have a backup center on the roster other than Alex Len, who only plays a few minutes per game. 

Valanciunas would be fantastic Sabonis insurance that would deliver the Kings some matchup versatility, especially if they keep up their stellar play and end up in the West’s top six.

Golden State Warriors

I also recently wrote a piece deep-diving the Warriors, who are wading through a .500 season with a bottom-ten offense. The Warriors have a bottom-ten offense. The Golden State Warriors. With Stephen Curry. Have a bottom-ten offense.

The Warriors’ days of domination without reaaaallllyyy having a center are over. There’s no Kevin Durant or Klay Thompson to spread the floor and slaughter teams via five-out; It’s now just Curry and a barrage of brick-layers with nobody there to clean up the mess. 

The Warriors’ start second-year player Trayce Jackson-Davis at center, but he is an awful rebounder for a starting center. He averages just 6.5 boards per game, and he’s only grabbed double-digit rebounds seven times this season (and in three of those instances he grabbed exactly ten).

Kevon Looney, when he plays, is as solid a rebounder as ever, but head coach Steve Kerr has yanked his minutes around all season long, and his role going forward remains unclear.

Valanciunas would not be a panacea for the Warriors’ ailments, but he would be a straight roster upgrade. He would likely start the remainder of the season, either pushing Jackson-Davis to the four or relegating him to a bench role. Valanciunas would help the Warriors clean up the boards while adding a wrinkle to the offense, and I cannot stress how badly both of those things are needed.

The Warriors need to go get Nikola Vucevic right now. If that plan fails, Valanciunas is their guy.

Orlando Magic

Props to the Magic, who have weathered injuries to almost everyone who matters to remain a competitive ballclub for the most part. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is the only player who has started in more than 34 games this season, and just take a look at the Magic’s injury report on Tuesday:

With Moritz Wagner out for the season, I like the idea of bringing in Valanciunas to build a bullpen of centers. All three of Valanciunas, Goga Bitadze, and Wendell Carter Jr. are low-end starter, high-end backup level players, so why not play all three of them depending on the matchup? 

At the very worst, Valanciunas can be cheap injury insurance down in Orlando, considering the “injury bug” is more of an infestation there this season. 

All stats and records are accurate as of noon on Tuesday, Jan. 21.