Toronto Raptors: 5 goals for Jonas Valanciunas in 2017-18
1. Help Toronto rank in the top five in blocks
The Toronto Raptors are hoping Jonas Valanciunas can team with Serge Ibaka to form one of the most imposing shot-blocking duos in the NBA.
The fron court was paired together for the final 23 games of the regular season, with Ibaka swatting away 33 shots and Valanciunas turning back 23 shots during the span.
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The Raptors finished the 2016-17 season with an average of 4.9 blocks per game, tying them with Phoenix for the 12th-highest average in the league. The Pelicans and Knicks finished tied for fourth in rejections with 5.5 per game a year ago.
In 363 career appearances, Valanciunas has rejected 387 shots, enough to make him a threat, but not enough for opponents to regularly alter their shots.
Instead of serving as the primary shot-blocker, the biggest transition for Valanciunas to make defensively is funneling players he is guarding into the lane, enabling Ibaka to block the shot.
In his five seasons, Valanciunas has played alongside some talented shot-blockers like Bismack Biyombo, Lucas Nogueira and Amir Johnson, but Ibaka is the most dominant frontcourt partner he he has played alongside in this department.
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The Raptors are hoping the two can erase a majority of the shots at the rim next year.