Now, his playing time needs to follow suit. Having put the work in, Valanciunas showed enough development to warrant a big raise. To that end, Valanciunas has spent the summer trying to expand his game. He's slow-footed and inflexible on offense. Granted, Valanciunas still has his fair share of shortcomings. He led the league in points per post-up last season, and held opponents to 46.5 percent shooting at the rim - a mark on par with Tim Duncan and Timofey Mozgov. His averages (12 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.2 blocks) were relatively modest, but the underlying statistics paint a much brighter picture of Valanciunas's game. The 23-year-old center has already developed into a strong contributor across his first three seasons. They need to give him more opportunities to contribute. But in order for that to happen, the Raptors have to lend more than money his way. They're betting on him to blossom into a two-way star. That much was made clear by their four-year, $64-million extension with the young Lithuanian. The Raptors are counting on Valanciunas to be a core piece for the future. This team will go where Lowry leads them. They dominated the league (58-27) in 2014 and were decidedly average (25-25) in 2015. Without Lowry's stellar two-way play, the team crashed to earth following a blistering 24-7 start to the year. The Raptors' record mirrored his decline.
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