We’ve been telling you for a couple weeks now that Jonas Valanciunas turned a lot of heads with his play at the Las Vegas Summer League. He got named the Vegas Summer League MVP for a reason.
We we’re the only one who noticed.
Raptors coach Dwane Casey did as well. He said told Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun that the improvements in Valanciunas’ game and DeMar DeRozan’s game were going to alter the Raptors offense next season.
Casey said development of Valanciunas will change offence quite a bit. Far more of focus. Not only just score out of low post to quarterback
— Ryan Wolstat (@WolstatSun) July 25, 2013
Also said DeMar DeRozan has significantly improved his three-point shot. Now trick is doing it "when the popcorn's popping" (Regular season)
— Ryan Wolstat (@WolstatSun) July 25, 2013
Having Valanciunas quarterback some of the offense from the post takes a little pressure off and should open things up for Rudy Gay and Kyle Lowry out on the perimeter.
All of this has Raptors fans dreaming of the playoffs in the East — and that’s not an impossible dream. They could be in the mix for a 7-8 seed, but we need to see how the team comes together — and how it defends — first.