Believe me, I'll be the first to admit that I was pissed when the Raps didn't draft the likes of Brandon Knight or Kemba Walker, but after a stellar performance at the U19 FIBA World Championships, Valanciunas is looking like an absolute stud.
Valanciunas led the event in scoring with an impressive 23 PPG, 13.9 RPG and 3.3 BPG. This guy tore the tourney up making his competition look like 5 year old school girls; not to mention he had a game high 38 points in Lithuania's 67-65 Gold Medal win, also collecting the event MVP.
Hopefully this guy fills out a little bit and can replicate a way more talented and tougher version of Pau Gasol or Andrew Bogut. If this lockout is for real, and we actually miss out on NBA ball for a year; Colangelo could look like a genius as Valanciunas' Euro club team contract forces him to play one more year in Europe, unless a Raps pay the unlikely buyout fee of $4million.
Either way I may be starting to bite my words... Good pick.
