Jonas Valančiūnas

Jonas Valančiūnas (born 6 May 1992 Utena ) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player. The 2.13 m wide center player stands since 2012 at the Toronto Raptors in the NBA under contract.

Club career

Valančiūnas began his career in the adult section at KK Perlas Vilnius. With this club he joined after his first season in 2009 in the highest league of Lithuania, Lietuvos Krepsinio Lyga on. During the following season Valančiūnas Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius joined. In his first Euro League mission he had a double double. In the season 2011/12 he was awarded the Eurocup for best young player.

When NBA Draft 2011 Valančiūnas was selected at # 5 out of the Toronto Raptors, but played one more year for Lietuvos Rytas before he signed a contract with the Raptors in the summer of 2012.

In his first year for the Raptors Valančiūnas scored 8.9 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game. He started in almost every game from the beginning. At the end of the season Valančiūnas All- Rookie Second Team was called to the NBA.

National team career

Both the U16 and the U18 national team was Valančiūnas European champion, both times (2008 and 2010) he was also named Most Valuable Player of the tournament. In 2011 he won with the Lithuania U19 World Cup, he was voted Most Valuable Player again. In August 2011 Valančiūnas was in a pre-season friendly against the Czech Republic to the European Championships his debut for the senior national team and scored equal to 26 points. Valanciunas took part in the 2011 European Championship on home soil with Lithuania. The Lithuanian National Team went into the tournament as one of the favorites, but surprisingly different from the quarter-final against Macedonia. Valanciunas scored 8.4 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 10 games for Lithuania.