Jonas Valanciunas' rare, game-wrecking ability being flashed at EuroBasket

At this point, most people have read the book on Jonas Valanciunas, the 33-year-old, long-time veteran NBA center. But, with age, he’s been expanding his game a bit, and in Team Lithuania’s most recent EuroBasket exhibition game, Big Val shot 2/2 from the three-point line.

That’s definitely noteworthy for a guy who has lived around the rim during his career and made his bones banging inside. He has always had the ability to play out of the high post and has nice touch for a big man, with great passing skills to boot.

But for his career, JV averages just 0.7 three-point attempts per game, and he took just 0.3 a night with the Kings last season. If he is going to become a legitimate spacing threat from the outside, this will open up a world of new possibilities for the Nuggets.

Nuggets can play two centers at once

Neither Valanciunas nor Nikola Jokic is known as a three-point marksman, but Jokic was one of the league leaders last season, and JV is clearly getting more comfortable with that part of his game. Maybe they aren’t the most willing shooters, but they’re clearly capable.

They’ve also never played with a center like each other, and while Valanciunas was mainly brought in to back up Jokic, the idea of the two big men sharing the court becomes more tantalizing by the day.

Having one of those monsters inside, bludgeoning the opposition while the other operates from the high post or beyond, is a scary thought for defenses. The amount of mechanisms available to Denver with two versatile giants who can threaten from inside and out is going to allow David Adelman and his staff to work wonders.

Could Valanciunas have 2nd act a la Brook Lopez?

We’ve seen this trajectory with some centers in recent years, most notably Brook Lopez, who turned himself from a post scoring dynamo, into a stretch-5 rim protector. He has extended his career and had an incredible second act, which including helping the Bucks win a title.

Valanciunas has obviously already shown interest in leaving the NBA, but maybe he moves his game out, starts hitting threes, and this fit in Denver works better than anyone could imagine. Maybe the Nuggets win a title, and Val decides he wants to stay for a few more years.

There’s a real chance that he could recreate his game in a way that ages well and fits in beautifully with Jokic and the rest of the Nuggets. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful bit of luck after a less-than-comfortable start to his tenure in Denver?