Asking whether Memphis Grizzlies center Jonas Valanciunas is in the top-5 of his position may seem like a ridiculous question upon first glance.
I mean, it’s Jonas Valanciunas.
He’s not the guy for the Grizzlies — he was never supposed to be at least. Those guys are Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. They are the two players who will hopefully lead this team to an victory in the NBA Finals in a few years. End of story.
You can speak for yourself, but nowhere in that scenario did I ever consider the fact that JV could take a huge step forward as a player. He signed with the Grizzlies as he was entering his prime and it seemed pretty clear that he wasn’t going to improve much.
He was a fringe top-15 center and that was that.
Jonas Valanciunas’ value to the Memphis Grizzlies seemed clear as day
And that’s just where everybody was wrong. Valanciunas didn’t come to the Memphis Grizzlies to be a decent center; he came to Beale Street to make a difference on this team. And without Jaren Jackson Jr., he has done just that.
You can point to any number of reasons for the Grizzlies’ success this year, but in my opinion, Valanciunas has been the biggest factor in keeping this team afloat.
His 29-point, 20 rebound performance against the Washington Wizards is still fresh in our minds, reminding us of what he is capable of. This wasn’t just a great game either. It was a motivated victory for a big man who knew he had to take over for this team.
He’s shown that he can have great single-game performances, but how do his season stats match up against other NBA centers?