Washington Wizards big man Jonas Valanciunas was inked to a three-year, $30 million deal not all that long ago. Yet he hasn’t seen the floor that much lately for a Wizards team that’s currently on an 11-game losing streak, the longest in the league.
So far in the month of November, he’s averaging just 19.0 minutes of playing time per contest. Additionally, he played under 17 minutes in Washington’s recent loss to the Indiana Pacers back on Nov. 24.
With Valanciunas’ role on the Wizards shrinking, title contenders around the NBA are trying to determine the 32-year-old’s trade value, according to Forbes’ Evan Sidery.
Jonas Valanciunas is viewed as one of the most likely players to be moved, once newly signed free agents become trade-eligible on December 15th.
Various title-contending teams have begun to gauge the value on Valanciunas as his minutes continue to dwindle on the Wizards. pic.twitter.com/Bm9g2grfB7
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) November 25, 2024
The Los Angeles Lakers look like contenders so far this season, and they were linked to Valanciunas before he inked a deal with the Wizards in free agency. Per The Athletic’s Jovan Buha, Los Angeles could reignite its pursuit of Valanciunas on the trade market partly because he was on a list of players that LeBron James wanted the Lakers to pursue in the offseason.
Additionally, Shams Charania of ESPN said earlier in the month that the Lakers are actively looking for a big man.
REPORT: The Lakers are "actively" looking for a big man to add to their lineup, per @ShamsCharania pic.twitter.com/7UbUCE1LYS
— Lakers Daily (@LakersDailyCom) November 19, 2024
Outside of Anthony Davis, Los Angeles’ depth at the big man position is limited. Christian Wood still hasn’t made his season debut with Los Angeles due to a knee injury, and while Jaxson Hayes has had his fair share of quality performances this season, he hasn’t suited up for the Lakers since Nov. 10.
The Boston Celtics stand out as another contender who could benefit from acquiring a player of Valanciunas’ skill set. It would be beneficial for Boston to add Valanciunas to bolster its depth at the big man position when factoring in Kristaps Porzingis’ injury history. The Latvian was sidelined for the majority of Boston’s title run in the 2024 NBA Playoffs, but the Celtics still went on to win the title.
The Lakers and Celtics are two of the better teams in their respective conferences. Boston owns the second-best record in the Eastern Conference at 14-3, and the Lakers sit as the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference right now with a record of 10-6.
