And-Ones: Ross, Bucks, Max Salaries
The Raptors, who on Thursday signed Jonas Valanciunas to a four-year, $64MM extension, have had talks with representatives for Terrence Ross about an extension of his own, GM Masai Ujiri said, according to Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun (Twitter link). Wolstat reported last month that the team would seek extensions for both, though it’s clear that Valanciunas was the first priority. Still, the Raptors and the Aaron Mintz client have plenty of time in advance of the deadline, which would be November 2nd this year instead of the traditional October 31st, since Halloween falls on a Saturday. See more from around the NBA:
- The Bucks see a half-dozen of their players as long-term building blocks, and while that’s a broader view of a nucleus than many teams take, it’s one that can give all six the feeling that the team values them, as Frank Madden of SB Nation’s Brew Hoop examines. “We’re trying to build around some kind of consistency with the nucleus of Michael Carter-Williams, Khris Middleton, Jabari Parker, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Greg Monroe and John Henson,” GM John Hammond said on The Baseline with Warren Shaw and Cal Lee (audio link), as Madden transcribes. “Those six guys are the young core that we look and say that’s kind of the future of this organization, and that’s not discounting anyone else. Other players have to step [up] and become a part of that group with us. But those guys are the group we hope we can build some kind of continuity with.”
- John Wall pointed earlier this summer to Reggie Jackson‘s new five-year, $80MM contract with the Pistons as proof that the Wizards didn’t pay too much when they inked Wall to a deal for a similar amount in 2013, and Wall said recently to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com that some signings are out of line. “But I know when I got my $80MM, they said I didn’t deserve it. Now guys are getting it and they’re not saying anything about it,” Wall said in part. “I’m never knocking those guys because they’re doing what they’re supposed to do. You’re supposed to get that money and take care of your family and get better. I just [criticized max deals] because they made a big deal about me getting $80MM, and now people are getting $80MM, $95MM and they don’t deserve it.”
- Blake Griffin was the only one of the five stars Berger spoke to for his piece who lent much support to the idea of shortening the regular season. “Money is an object, though,” said Griffin’s teammate Chris Paul, who serves as president of the players association. “When we were kids playing AAU, we’d play five games in a day and wouldn’t think twice about it. I don’t know what the right number is. We’ve been playing 82 for a while though, huh? As far as I can remember. That’d be tough [to change].”
Latest On Carlos Boozer
7:54am: The Shandong Lions, another Chinese team, are also going after Boozer, as Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia indicates via Twitter.
12:26am: The Sichuan Blue Whales and other Chinese teams are expressing interest in Carlos Boozer, and while the Rob Pelinka client is intrigued, he’s still pursuing NBA deals, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter links). News regarding the 33-year-old has been scarce since a late-July report indicated that the Knicks, Rockets and Mavericks were eyeing him. The 33-year-old has lingered in free agency since July, when the lucrative five-year deal he signed with the Bulls expired. He made $16.8MM last season as a member of the Lakers, though Chicago paid all but the $3.251MM figure the Lakers bid when they claimed him via amnesty waivers.
Few NBA teams have more than the $2.814MM room exception to spend at this point. The Mavs have that amount available, though they already have deals with 20 players, the offseason maximum. The Knicks spent the room exception on Kevin Seraphin and have only the minimum to offer. The Rockets have about $2.274MM worth of their mid-level that they could spend, though doing so would leave the team hard-capped and without the means to give No. 32 pick Montrezl Harrell a market-value contract. Boozer and the Clippers reportedly had mutual interest in July, but they only have the minimum to spend, and while the Spurs, Raptors, Pelicans, Nuggets, Nets, Lakers and Heat have all apparently had interest over the course of the summer, it’s unclear if that’s the case now. Thus, I’d speculate that Boozer is only receiving minimum-salary offers from NBA teams at this point.
Andray Blatche signed a three-year, $7.5MM deal with China’s Xinjiang Flying Tigers this past spring, and a few weeks ago Shavlik Randolph inked a contract for at least $4.5MM over three years, numbers that suggest that Boozer, if he went to China, stands a decent chance to top the $1,499,187 he’d see on an NBA minimum deal. Still, Metta World Peace wound up with less than that in his deal with Sichuan last summer. A Chinese team would nonetheless offer Boozer a chance to double-dip, since the Chinese Basketball Association ends well in advance of the NBA season, giving players an opportunity to latch on with NBA teams at prorated salaries for the stretch run.
Will Joseph of Hoops Rumors examined Boozer’s free agent stock in depth earlier this month.
Where do you think Boozer ends up? Comment to tell us.
Eastern Notes: Embiid, D-League, Bulls
Sixers GM Sam Hinkie noted that while Joel Embiid adhered to the prescribed recovery plan for his injured right foot, the team would have liked the center to be more focused at times regarding his rehab, Tom Moore of Calkins Media writes. “He [Embiid] gets thrown into the NBA and the thing you love the most is taken away from you,” Hinkie said. “I found his diligence to be good. At the same time, I’ve had conversations with him that everybody’s got to step up their focus. The stakes are very high. It’s clear to everyone however high they were, they’re higher [now].” Embiid underwent a second surgical procedure on his injured right foot this week, and he is expected to miss the entire 2015/16 campaign.
Here’s more out of the Eastern Conference:
- The Raptors have secured the D-League rights to several players via the expansion draft, and a number of recognizable names are up and down the list, Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca notes (on Twitter). Some of the better known players selected by the team include Earl Clark, Nolan Smith, Dee Bost, Dahntay Jones, and Ricky Ledo, Grange relays.
- The Bulls chose to stand pat for the most part this offseason regarding making roster moves, with the team still believing that its core has the capability of reaching the NBA Finals, a plan that center Joakim Noah agrees with, Vincent Goodwill of CSNChicago.com writes. “I think continuity is gonna be great for us,” Noah told Goodwill. “Even though it’s the same group, it’s still gonna be change at the leadership role as far as coaching. So it’s gonna be very different. So having the same team brings stability as well.”
- Lamar Patterson, who inked a two-year pact with the Hawks this offseason, hopes that shedding 22 pounds of weight from his 6’5″ frame will help him earn a regular season roster spot, Jake Fischer of SI.com writes. The guard spent last season with Tofas Bursa of Turkey, averaging 11.2 points and 3.6 rebounds in 28.3 minutes per game. Patterson, who turns 24 next month, led the Hawks in scoring at the Las Vegas Summer League with 13.1 PPG to go along with 5.1 RPG in 25.8 MPG.
Raptors Sign Jonas Valanciunas To Extension
2:51pm: Valanciunas will simply see $64MM on the deal, as there are no bonuses involved, Wojnarowski clarifies (on Twitter).
2:15pm: The deal is official, the Raptors announced (Twitter link). It’s worth $64MM over four years with a player option on the fourth year, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter links). Bonuses could bring the total value to $70MM, Wojnarowski also indicates.
“Jonas’ contributions continue to improve with each season and we view him as a significant part of what we are building in Toronto,” Ujiri said in the team’s press release.
12:41pm: The Raptors and Jonas Valanciunas have reached agreement on an extension, reports Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca (Twitter link). The team and the Leon Rose client had reportedly been close to a four-year, deal worth more than $60MM earlier this week as they were deeply engaged in negotiations. Valanciunas left training with the Lithuanian national team to travel to Toronto this week and undergo a medical exam, national team coach Jonas Kazlauskas said, strongly hinting that Valanciunas intended to sign a deal.
The extension comes as no surprise after GM Masai Ujiri said this past spring that Valanciunas was “a huge part of our team” for the future. Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun reported in early July that the Raptors planned to work toward extensions with both Valanciunas and Terrence Ross, though the team’s brass has seemed especially high on Valanciunas, as they seemed to blame the coaching staff for slow development in the center’s game. The Raptors and head coach Dwane Casey overhauled the team’s group of assistant coaches, bringing in Rex Kalamian, Andy Greer and Jerry Stackhouse.
A figure in excess of $60MM over four years would make Valanciunas one of the league’s most highly paid big men, far eclipsing the $12MM a year that Nikola Vucevic, a center with greater scoring production and similar defensive issues, will see on the extension he signed with the Magic this past fall. Still, Enes Kanter, another interior scorer who’s proven a liability on defense, came away with a max deal of about $70MM this summer as the economics of the NBA change in advance of the projected leaps in the salary cap. An extension for Valanciunas would take effect starting with the 2016/17 season, the first covered under the league’s $24 billion TV deal.
Sportsnet’s Michael Grange speculated that even $60MM over four years would be low, pegging a $64-66MM arrangement as fair value for the team (Twitter links). Grange compared Valanciunas, the fifth overall pick in the 2011 draft, to Tristan Thompson, the No. 4 pick that year who’s apparently been negotiating north of $80MM over five years with the Cavs. Valanciunas, unlike Thompson, isn’t a restricted free agent this summer because he remained overseas for a year after having been drafted.
I’d gone in the other direction, predicting that Valanciunas would end up with $13-14MM a year when I looked at his extension candidacy earlier this month. The timing of the deal is perhaps the most surprising element, since the sides had until November 2nd to sign an extension, and most extensions for less than the maximum salary don’t come until mere days or even hours before that deadline.
The Raptors have been carrying about $45.5MM on the books for 2016/17, a figure that presumes the team will pick up the rookie scale team options on Lucas Nogueira and Bruno Caboclo. That doesn’t include any money for DeMar DeRozan, who has a $10.05MM player option that early indications show he’s likely to decline. Presuming that new deals for Valanciunas and DeRozan would add up to around $30MM, Toronto would have less than $14MM against a projected $89MM cap to use on Ross or on outside free agents.
Do you think Valanciunas is worth more than $15MM a year in this market? Leave a comment to tell us.
Raptors, Jonas Valanciunas Deep In Extension Talks
THURSDAY, 9:16am: The sides are still working, and while there has been some optimism they’ll strike a deal today, that remains to be seen, Grange tweets.
TUESDAY, 11:19am: The Raptors and Valanciunas are indeed close to deal, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca, who suggests that it’s a distinct possibility a formal agreement will come this week. However, the timing remains a question mark, and it’s no guarantee the sides reach a deal this week, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet (Twitter link).
4:23pm: The deal isn’t done, but the Raptors and Valanciunas are in advanced discussions toward a four-year extension that would be worth more than $60MM, Stein adds (on Twitter).
4:20pm: Marc Stein of ESPN.com confirms that Valanciunas on his way to Toronto “to firm up” an extension with the Raptors (Twitter link). It remains unclear whether the sides have an agreement quite yet, however.
MONDAY, 3:53pm: Jonas Valanciunas has left the Lithuanian national team to return to Toronto, where the Raptors have an extension offer waiting for him, Lithuanian national team coach Jonas Kazlauskas said, as Donatas Urbonas of 24Sek.lt writes and as Kevin Rashidi of Canada.com translates and confirms (Twitter link). He’ll undergo a physical, but Kazlauskas indicated the center would sign the deal.
The Raptors have reportedly wanted extensions with both Valanciunas and fellow former lottery pick Terrence Ross in advance of this year’s November 2nd deadline. GM Masai Ujiri this past spring called Valanciunas “a huge part of our team” for the future, and while the development of the 7-footer seemed to plateau this past season, the Raptors apparently placed the blame for that on their assistant coaches.
An extension for Valanciunas would kick in for the 2016/17 season, when the salary cap is projected to hit $89MM. The Raptors are set to enter that season with only about $45.5MM on the books, though that doesn’t include any money for Valanciunas, Ross, or DeMar DeRozan, who can opt out next summer.
Nikola Vucevic, a center who struggles defensively, as Valanciunas does, but who had put up greater offensive numbers, signed a four-year, $48MM extension with the Magic last year. Still, the rising cap prompted me to project, when I examined the extension candidacy of Valanciunas last week, that the Raptors would give the Leon Rose client $13-14MM a year.
Do you think the Raptors and Valanciunas should wait until the extension deadline in the fall, when other deals could help set the market, or are they smart to try to wrap up a deal now? Leave a comment to let us know.
Atlantic Notes: Embiid, Valanciunas, Mickey
The Sixers have officially announced that center Joel Embiid is expected to miss the entire 2015/16 campaign while he recovers from surgery on his right foot, the second such procedure the big man has undergone on that appendage. Embiid’s recovery is expected to take five to eight months, which was the exact same timeframe the center was given following his surgery last season, according to the announcement. Philly GM Sam Hinkie also noted that Embiid did not suffer another broken foot, but instead, there was simply less healing than medical personnel anticipated.
Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- Hinkie also said that the Sixers were still actively looking to make another trade this offseason, but would not disclose what position the team is looking to upgrade at, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer tweets. The GM also said regarding potential deals, “We’re still active, heavily engaged in trade conversations, [and also] with free agents still. I don’t have anything to announce,” Tom Moore of Calkins Media relays (on Twitter). Philly could stand to add some depth at point guard, with the team’s current rotation at the one consisting of Tony Wroten, Isaiah Canaan, and Scottie Wilbekin.
- Even if the Raptors need to offer Jonas Valanciunas an extension above market value in order to entice him to sign, Doug Smith of The Toronto Star thinks locking him up before the salary cap spikes next summer would be a wise move for Toronto. Members of the Raptors front office are adamant that JV will be a key part of the club’s success in 2015/16, according to Smith, who thinks an agreement between the two sides is inevitable.
- Celtics coach Brad Stevens is excited by what he’s seen from draftees Jordan Mickey, Terry Rozier, and R.J. Hunter, with Mickey making an especially strong impression courtesy of his length and athleticism, Judy Cohen of WEEI 93.7 FM writes. “Those guys are workers,” Stevens said. “They’ll come in, they’ll work, they’ll add to that environment of work that I like the rest of our guys are doing, and so time will tell, but we’re anxious to see.”
Charlie Adams contributed to this post.
Atlantic Notes: Valanciunas, Embiid, Richardson
The Raptors and Jonas Valanciunas are reportedly working toward a four-year contract extension that would be worth more than $60MM, and the two sides could finalize the deal as early as this week. While inking the young big man to such a lucrative pact may be a big risk for a player with career averages of 10.9 points and 8.0 rebounds, TSN.ca’s Josh Lewenberg notes that Valanciunas is just 23 years old, and the Raptors still believe in him and his potential (Twitter links). Lewenberg also adds that the center needs to improve his passing, mobility, and perimeter defense to justify receiving that vote of confidence from the organization, but with the salary cap expected to increase markedly next season, Valanciunas wouldn’t have much difficulty securing that size of an offer in the free agent marketplace from another team.
Here’s more out of the Atlantic Division:
- While some may have doubts that Valanciunas is worth an annual salary in the $15MM range, Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca believes signing the big man to a four-year, $60MM extension would be a steal for the Raptors organization. Grange cites Valancinuas’ improved numbers last season, as well as durability, with the center having missed just seven contests in three NBA seasons, as reasons why Toronto is making a wise move in extending the player.
- Sixers center Joel Embiid underwent successful surgery today on his right foot, Mike Sielski of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports (Twitter link). Embiid is expected to miss the entire 2015/16 campaign, his second straight after being selected with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft.
- Jason Richardson took to his personal Twitter account to thank the Sixers for their support of him the last three seasons. The 34-year-old only appeared in a total of 52 contests during his tenure in Philadelphia, and the unrestricted free agent has inked a non-guaranteed pact with the Hawks for the 2015/16 campaign.
Atlantic Notes: Porzingis, Celtics, McCullough
Knicks president Phil Jackson expects lottery pick Kristaps Porzingis to play approximately 20 minutes a game in his rookie season, he told Charley Rosen in Part 8 of a nine-part series posted on ESPN.com. “It’s entirely up to [coach Derek Fisher], but it would be great if KP could get as much as 20 minutes a game early in the season, plus maybe a few more later when he’s acclimated to the NBA game,” Jackson said to Rosen. “It also has to be determined whether he’ll be more comfortable at power forward or center.” Jackson is concerned that Porzingis may have trouble putting on enough muscle to play in the low post. “His core strength might never be good enough, and he might not be able to get low enough to get himself into prime defensive position to body power rebounders or drivers,” Jackson told Rosen. Jackson added that Jerian Grant, who was acquired in a draft-day trade with the Hawks for Tim Hardaway Jr., will compete with Langston Galloway for playing time at either guard spot.
In other news around the Atlantic Division:
- Tyler Zeller has a better chance than Celtics teammates Jared Sullinger and Perry Jones III to receive a contract extension before the start of the regular season, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com reports. Out of the trio from the 2012 draft, Zeller was the most effective player last season, averaging 10.2 points and 5.7 rebounds with an above-average 19.01 player efficiency rating, Blakely continues. Sullinger has battled weight and conditioning issues during his career while Jones, who was traded by the Thunder to Boston in July, has to establish his value after receiving limited playing time in his three seasons with Oklahoma City, Blakely adds.
- Nets draft pick Chris McCullough may return as early as November from the torn right ACL he suffered while playing for Syracuse last season, according to Brandon Bennett of NetsDaily.com. While there is no timetable for McCullough’s return, a November target appears to be right on track, Bennett adds. McCullough was expected to miss the upcoming season when he was selected with the No. 29 overall pick.
- Cory Joseph, who left the Spurs and signed a four-year, $30MM deal with the Raptors, wants to display his two-way game while playing for Team Canada in next month’s Olympic qualifying tournament, Josh Lewenberg of TSN.com reports. “Obviously everybody knows I’m a defensive player,” Joseph said to Lewenberg. “I take pride in my defense. Last year, I was able to show a little bit of my two-way game when [Patty Mills] and [Tony Parker] were out early in the season. So I’m looking to continue to show that I’m a two-way player.”
Reaction To Markieff Morris Trade Demand
The Suns are in a tough spot in the wake of a trade demand from Markieff Morris that confirmed a report from last week that he wants out of Phoenix. The deal that sent twin Marcus Morris to the Pistons last month is at the root of the discontent, but when, or if, the Suns trade the remaining Morris brother remains to be seen. Here’s the latest reaction and fallout to the news:
- The Suns don’t intend to cave to Markieff’s trade demand, for now, but he’s told people close to him that he won’t talk to Suns front office officials and will respond only in one-word answers to coach Jeff Hornacek if he remains on the team, according to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. Markieff would like to play with the Rockets or Raptors but doesn’t really have a preference as long as he’s no longer playing for the Suns, Gambadoro adds.
- Marcus told Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer that he was upset the Suns would trade him without his consent after he and his brother took what Marcus called pay cuts on their extensions last fall, but SB Nation’s Tom Ziller argues that Markieff was the only one who took less than he was worth. Even so, the Morrises had to know that the Suns would put the interests of the team above their desire to stay together, Ziller opines.
- Andrew Joseph of The Arizona Republic makes a similar argument and points to behavior from the twins, both on an off the court, that’s been less than endearing to the team and its fans as part of the reason why the Suns traded Marcus last month.
- Markieff can be maddening to those around him, but he’s not unpopular in the locker room, as recent comments from Archie Goodwin indicate, writes Paula Boivin of The Arizona Republic. It’s incumbent upon the Suns to see if they can reconcile with the talented power forward, and with a pattern of players showing discontent on their way out of Phoenix, including Goran Dragic‘s acrimonius exit this past February, the team must fix what appears to be a communication problem, Boivin posits.
Extension Candidate: Jonas Valanciunas
No one who’s a part of the Raptors core was as highly drafted as Jonas Valanciunas, the No. 5 pick from 2011. Toronto had to wait a year for the Lithuanian center while he continued to play overseas, but he’s quickly established himself as an NBA starter in the three seasons since. It’s convincing the Raptors that he can finish games that has proven troublesome for the 7-footer, who often sat on the bench in crunch time this past season, one in which he played a relatively meager 26.2 minutes per game despite starting in all 80 of his regular season appearances. The Raptors reportedly want an extension with him, and while that’s no surprise, GM Masai Ujiri surely has a ceiling for negotiations with a center who saw the floor for barely more than half the game.
Still, Ujiri called Valanciunas “a huge part of our team” at season’s end, adding that the way the team deployed the center this past season would be a “big discussion” he would have with coach Dwane Casey and his staff. Valanciunas appeared to stagnate this past season after a leap between his rookie and sophomore years, and that was a factor in the changes that ultimately took place to Casey’s staff, as Ken Berger of CBSSports.com reported a few months ago. All of that would suggest that Ujiri feels Valanciunas is capable of playing more minutes and finishing more games than he did in 2014/15, which bodes well for the Leon Rose client as extension talks loom.
The problem lies on defense. The Raptors were a better defensive team when Valanciunas sat than when he played last season, by a measure of 1.6 points per 100 possessions, as NBA.com shows. He was a minus defender, according to Basketball-Reference’s Box Plus Minus. Those are serious issues for any NBA starting center, let alone one whom a team is considering for a long-term commitment. ESPN’s Real Plus Minus is kinder, ranking him as the 33rd-best defensive center, two spots behind fellow rookie scale extension candidate John Henson, whom other defensive metrics love, as I examined earlier. A ranking of No. 33 among centers is cold comfort, nonetheless. Casey’s forte is defense, but he’ll have to work some true wizardry to give the Raptors a championship-level defense any time soon unless Valanciunas can improve on that end.
Ujiri made moves to improve the team’s defense this past season, none more striking than his four-year, $58MM deal for three-and-D forward DeMarre Carroll. He also brought in Bismack Biyombo, a defensive specialist, to play as the backup to Valanciunas. Biyombo, who averaged only 4.8 points per game last season, would be the only logical alternative for Casey if he doesn’t want Valanciunas on the floor down the stretch, so unless the Raptors merely want to protect a lead, it seems likely that Valanciunas will be on the floor when the final horn sounds.
The 23-year-old has shown he’s capable of getting better in other regards. His PER vaulted from 16.1 in 2013/14 to a strong 20.6 this past season, a sign that he made the most of his time on the floor. Indeed, Valanciunas scored more points per game in fewer minutes and on slightly fewer shots. He made a career-best 57.2% of his attempts from the floor, upping the percentage of his shots that came at point-blank range, as Basketball-Reference shows. He’s also become a better rebounder, having averaged nearly 12 rebounds per 36 minutes this past season after he started out at just 9.0 in the per-36 category as a rookie.
Next year’s free agent class is relatively thin after the top few names, but the available centers are fairly intriguing. Andre Drummond seems destined to either receive an extension from the Pistons or re-sign next summer, but Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol can opt out. Former Florida teammates Al Horford and Joakim Noah figure to be highly sought-after, as does Al Jefferson. Hassan Whiteside will have no shortage of suitors if he duplicates his breakthrough year for the Heat, and Roy Hibbert can vault himself into the upper tier with a bounceback season for the Lakers. Teams will have serious money to throw around, with the salary cap set to surge to $89MM, but Valanciunas will have competition for it.
The Raptors can go in several different directions. They only have about $42MM in salary commitments for 2016/17 as it stands, though that figure will almost certainly rise to approximately $45.5MM when Toronto picks up its team options on Lucas Nogueira and Bruno Caboclo. Early word indicates that DeMar DeRozan will opt out, and Terrence Ross, like Valanciunas, can hit restricted free agency if he doesn’t receive an extension. Re-signing DeRozan, Ross and Valanciunas at market value would likely leave the team without the capacity to chase top-tier free agents next summer, when Toronto native Tristan Thompson would be an unrestricted free agent if he signs his qualifying offer.
I speculated in our Raptors offseason outlook that Valanciunas and Rose would ask for $12MM salaries that would put him in line with what Nikola Vucevic, another defensively challenged starting center, received on his extension from the Magic last year. The spending in this summer’s free agent market, including a max deal of more than $17.5MM a year for defensive sieve Enes Kanter and Ujiri’s commitment of a $14.5MM average annual value to Carroll, suggests that $12MM is too low a starting point. The Valanciunas camp will probably ask for at least as much as Carroll received, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the center ultimately end up with $13-14MM a year, numbers that look high but are well beneath the projected $20.4MM max for players with his level of experience.
That may end up a bargain if Casey and new assistants Rex Kalamian, Andy Greer and Jerry Stackhouse turn Valanciunas into a credible defender and continue his offensive development. Ujiri appears to have no shortage of faith that Valanciunas will improve and seems to view him as a cornerstone for the future. That’s probably enough motivation for Toronto to make an offer lucrative enough to get a deal done this fall.
How much do you think Valanciunas should make per year on his next deal? Leave a comment to tell us.