Jonas Valanciunas will join Toronto Raptors in the 2012-2013 season: NBA Update
On the draft night, the Toronto Raptors made good on Cleveland Cavaliers apparent draft mess up and picked the Lithuanian star Jonas Valanciunas as the fifth overall pick. However, as it turns out, Valanciunas will not be joining the Raptors’ in the next season.
The Raptors’ management and Valanciunas’ current team Lietuvos Rytas, with whom Valanciunas has a three year deal, have come to a mutual agreement that will allow Valanciunas to play for the Raps in the season 2012-2013. The Toronto Raptors’ General Manager Bryan Colangelo confirmed Valanciunas future status with the Raptors, on Friday.
“I can confirm the buyout is in place, you’re looking at a pretty underdeveloped 19-year-old that is looking at going up against some pretty big players in the NBA. Getting him physically ready and acclimated to the culture is obviously going to take time. We are going to be patient with this young man, but again we’re very excited to be able to bring in one of the best young centre prospects out there. He’s going to get a ton of minutes and a lot of reps (with Rytas) next season.”
The 7-foot tall Valanciunas is currently playing in Lithuanian side Lietuvos Rytas. His arrival in NBA had brought interest from different teams. The Cleveland Cavaliers were the firm favourites to land the lanky star at their No. 4th pick; however, the Cavaliers are believed to have backed out from their decision when the buyout complication arose.
The rules and regulations of buyout are very clear in the NBA. The league has clearly defined on what conditions any NBA franchise can buyout a player. The maximum amount a franchise can spend over a player for a buyout is $500,000. The NBA rules say that after this $500,000 limit, the player himself will pay the rest of the money. There are unconfirmed reports that Valanciunas’ buyout is placed at $2.4 million and now Valanciunas will pay the rest of the $1.9 million by himself.
The young talent from Europe is being tipped to be a star and one of the most dominant centres in future; however, he is still young and has a lot of ground to cover before he can make an impact in NBA. The Raptors’ management realizes the fact that the 19 year old is not quite at a level, but they are very sure that with time Jonas will emerge as a superstar.
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