| Valančiūnas with Lithuanian U-19 team in Latvia | |
| No. 17 BC Lietuvos Rytas | |
|---|---|
| Center | |
| Personal information | |
| Date of birth | May 6, 1992 |
| Place of birth | Utena, Lithuania |
| Nationality | Lithuanian |
| Listed height | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) |
| Listed weight | 240 lb (109 kg) |
| Career information | |
| NBA Draft | 2011 / Round: 1 / Pick: 5th overall |
| Selected by the Toronto Raptors | |
| Pro career | 2008–present |
| League | Lithuanian Basketball League Baltic Basketball League VTB United League |
| Career history | |
| 2008–2010 | Perlas |
| 2010–present | Lietuvos Rytas |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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Jonas Valančiūnas (born May 6, 1992) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player, currently playing for BC Lietuvos Rytas. He is a member of the Lithuanian national basketball team. Valančiūnas was selected by the Toronto Raptors with the fifth overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.
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Valančiūnas started playing professionally for Perlas in 2008 and played there until December 2009. During the 2008–09 season the team played in the Lithuanian National Basketball League (NKL), Lithuania's second strongest league, but moved up to the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) the following season.
In the summer of 2009, Valančiūnas participated in the European Under-18 All-Star Game during EuroBasket 2009 in Poland. He dominated the game as he scored 18 points, grabbed 19 rebounds, blocked three shots and helped the "Blue Team" beat the "White Team" 77:75.[1] Valančiūnas was later named the MVP of the All-Star game.
Valančiūnas played in the first half of the 2009–10 season with Perlas, but on January 17, 2010, he signed a contract with Lithuanian powerhouse Lietuvos Rytas. While playing for Lietuvos Rytas, Valančiūnas participated in two LKL All-Star Games, the 2010 and 2011 All-Star Games. During the 2011 All-Star Game Valančiūnas scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, helping the "Lithuanians" win the game. He was named as the 2011 LKL All-Star Game MVP. Outside of the entertainment events, Valančiūnas has led Lietuvos Rytas to the LKL Finals twice, in 2010 and 2011. The team won the 2010 series against Žalgiris 4–3, but lost to the same team the following year 1–4. In 2010, Lietuvos Rytas also won the Lithuanian Basketball Federation (LKF) Cup.
Valančiūnas was considered as a top prospect at the 2011 NBA Draft, held on June 23, 2011, and was drafted 5th overall by the Toronto Raptors, but he will have to wait one year until 2012-2013 NBA season to join the Raptors because of his $2.5 million contract buyout with Lietuvos Rytas.[2] The Raptors only can pay $500,000 for his buyout because of NBA rules, but Valančiūnas has promised that he will pay the rest of the buyout price so he could play in the NBA. However, Lietuvos Rytas didn't permit him to join the NBA until 2012-2013 NBA season.
On December 27, 2011 Jonas Valančiūnas was named Lithuania Basketball Player Of The Year.[3]
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Competitor for Lithuania | ||
| Men's Basketball | ||
| FIBA World Under-19 Championship | ||
| Gold | 2011 Latvia | Team competition |
| FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship | ||
| Gold | 2010 Lithuania | Team competition |
| FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship | ||
| Gold | 2008 Italy | Team competition |
Valančiūnas made his debut for the Lithuanian national basketball team in the 2008 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship in Italy. He dominated throughout the tournament, averaging 14.3 points, 11.1 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in 23.5 minutes of action. His team went on to win the gold medal and he was chosen as the MVP.[4]
Two years later, Valančiūnas led Lithuania to another gold medal. Lithuania dominated in the 2010 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship held in Lithuania. Valančiūnas averaged 19.4 points, 13.4 rebounds and 2.7 blocks, and was voted as the MVP.[5]
Valančiūnas was also a member of the Lithuanian Under-19 basketball team, which competed in the 2011 FIBA Under-19 World Championship in Latvia. He led his team to capture the gold medal, averaging 23.0 points, 13.9 rebounds and 3.2 blocks in 31 minutes of game action. He was later named the tournament MVP. Valančiūnas scored 36 points in the gold medal game against Serbia, which was the highest points scored in a game by any player in the tournament.[6] To this date he is the only player to achieve an MVP and Gold Medal in all of his FIBA U-tournaments.
Valančiūnas was on the main national team roster for EuroBasket 2011 which took place in Lithuania. Jonas Valančiūnas debuted in Lithuania mans national basketball team on 6 of August, 2011. In his debut match against Czech he scored 26 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. After a strong performance in friendly pre-EuroBasket'11 matches Valančiūnas was leading Lithuanian national team with 12.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.[7] Although Valančiūnas failed to be any kind of a leader in the first 4 games of EuroBasket 2011 (among them missing the game against Turkey), he then became one of the key players averaging 8.4 points and 4.1 rebounds in just 15.7 minutes of game action[8] and helped Lithuania to claim the 5th spot which guaranteed qualification for the 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Ed Davis |
Toronto Raptors first round pick 2011 |
Succeeded by incumbent |
| Preceded by Dejan Musli |
FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship MVP 2008 |
Succeeded by Tauras Jogėla |
| Preceded by Mario Delaš |
FIBA Under-19 World Championship MVP 2011 |
Succeeded by incumbent |
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