The Golden State Warriors are looking into a dynamic scoring center who could provide them with frontcourt help ahead of the Feb. 6 NBA trade deadline.
Warriors like thought of trading for Jonas Valanciunas
According to Forbes’s Evan Sidery, the Warriors have joined the short list of Western Conference teams that “have recently shown trade interest” in Wizards big man Jonas Valanciunas. Golden State stands next to the Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets and Phoenix Suns.
Valanciunas would bring interior prowess to the Warriors
The Warriors’ interior offense has not been up to snuff this season. They rank No. 19 in the NBA scoring 46.9 points in the paint per game. Golden State is converting all of their two-pointers at a 51.1 percent clip, which places them at No. 28 league-wide.
While they are an exceptional rebounding team that ranks No. 2 in offensive boards (13.2 OREB) and No. 7 on the defensive side (34.2 DREB), they are allowing opponents to corral 34.9 defensive rebounds and 45.8 total nightly rebounds, both of which only three teams allow more than.
Valanciunas is just the guy who could remedy their scoring woes and fine-tune their rebounding discrepancy. The Lithuanian veteran is putting up 11.9 points and eight rebounds in only 19.9 minutes a night for the Wizards on the campaign.
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Warriors: Valanciunas’ wildly effective in limited minutes
The only player in the Association who sees under 20 minutes per game that averages more points than Valanciunas is Orlando Magic center Moritz Wagner, who was boasting 12.9 PPG in 18.8 MPG. In the same respect, Philadelphia 76ers five man Andre Drummond is the only player averaging more rebounds in that amount of playing time with 8.1 RPG in 19.3 MPG. This goes to show just how effective Valanciunas is with the court time he sees, which could increase in an amplified role with the Dubs.
Valanciunas is also converting 58.7 percent of his looks from inside the arc. While he is not a defensive stalwart, the Warriors would see a dramatic shift in second-unit scoring and glass-cleaning by bringing him on board. The 32-year-old is stuck behind rookie star Alex Sarr in Washington and could be featured in a greater capacity in the bay.
