Jonas Valanciunas starts negotiations with Toronto Raptors to buy out his European contract – NBA News
Jonas Valanciunas is finally in talks with his team in Lithuania to negotiate a release agreement that will eventually have the center playing for the Toronto Raptors in the coming season. Valanciunas was picked 5th overall in the 2011 NBA draft by the Toronto Raptors to be their center of the future. It was expected that he would play for the Raptors in the 2012-2013 NBA season after a long wait for both the teams and the fans.
The release agreement is the first step that will eventually to him paying the $2.4million to buy himself out of the contract and sign with the Raptors. Toronto can only pay for $550,000 of the owed amount.
Valanciunas was surrounded by controversy last year ahead of the NBA Draft after it was learnt that the center player did not have the option of a buyout in his current contract with the Lithuanian club Lietuvos Rytas. People were expecting him to play multiple seasons in Europe before he could finally make his debut in the NBA which is why he was being considered a risky pick.
The Raptors however decided to pick him 5th overall in an investment for the future, as they thought he was a player worth the wait and someone around whom they could build their team.He gave good news to the Raptors after the Draft when he signed a new deal with his team that would allow him to get out of his contract after the 2012 season.
Bryan Colangelo, the President and General Manager of the Toronto Raptors, said in an interview with NBA.com in March:
““I have no doubt that is the right pick or was the right pick for us. But it certainly wasn’t one that would gather instant gratification. There were other players on the board… that our fans and perhaps the media wanted us to take because they might come in and be an immediate-impact pick, if you will. But we made a long-term decision. We drafted a 19-year-old center prospect and despite the pressure of picking a so-called s**y pick or someone that might be a more-popular pick, we made the pick that we felt was the best decision.”
Valanciunas is a 7 foot 240 pound legitimate center whom many people believe will become a star center player in the future. Atleast, that is what Toronto are hoping, after having waited so long for him.
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