Stop me if you’ve heard this before, “the Pels need to trade Jonas” or “the Pels need a floor-spacing big that can protect the rim instead of Jonas.” One of the hottest talking points of the New Orleans Pelicans offseason is what will they do with Jonas Valanciunas. Multiple reports have surfaced about the Pels desire to move on from Valanciunas. According to Will Guillory and Jon Hollinger of The Athletics, some potential targets to replace JV are Jarrett Allen(Cleveland Cavaliers) and Isaiah Stewart(Detroit Pistons).

While Jonas lacks the athleticism or defensive acumen that may be desired from the Center position in this iteration of the New Orleans, here are three major pros to going into the 2023-2024 season with Jonas Valanciunas as the starting center of the Pels but before we jump in, let's ready your basketball palette with the hors d'oeuvre of watching Jonas put on a show against one of the best defensive teams in the league(Milwaukee Bucks) last year.



Shooting Capability

One of the hottest commodities in the NBA alongside a three and D, 6’8 wing player, is a floor spacing big man. Valanciunas ended the season as a 34.9% three point shooter on 1.4 attempts per game, which is good enough for fifth amongst NBA Centers. Usually these percentages decline with an increase in attempts, but statistics show otherwise for Jonas. During the 2021-2022 season Jonas carried a 36.1 three point percentage on 2.1 attempts per game. Jonas has the capability to be an above average floor spacing Center if given the opportunity to do so.

Shooting 54.7% from the field with a beneath the rim style of play, also shows the high level of efficiency that Jonas scores at from inside the three point line. While it may be the most simple way to space the floor, sitting your center behind the three point line is not the only way to space the floor. Placing JV in the dunker spot on Zion’s rim attacks forces the defense to choose between potentially ended up on the wrong side of a highlight dunk, or giving up the patented Jonas push floater. Or running the high low action often deployed by Demarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis during the 2017-2018 season, could be a highly effective scheme. Zion has shown the capability to make the free throw line jump shot, which could make doubling Jonas in the post a dangerous decision. Even if Zion chooses not to shoot the free throw line jumper, giving him space to pick up speed doesn’t sound like wisdom to me. With Jonas high and Zion low on this action, defenses would have to respect Jonas ability to shoot the midrange jumper at an efficient clip, which could give Zion more room to work.

The moral of the story is Jonas gives you the desired capability of making room for your stars to attack the rim and be playmakers. With the right kind of scheme in place, we may even see another level of play from all parties involved. Being apart of the 50/30/80 club is not as illustrious as the 50/40/90 club, but it is still very impressive.



Defensive Rebounding

Jonas averaged 7.3 defensive rebounds per game, which is good enough for 9th amongst centers in the NBA. This accomplishment is made even more astonishing when you learn that he played two minutes than the next individual on the top ten rebounding list at 24.9 minutes per game.

There’s not many things in life more amazing than a Zion Williamson or Trey Murphy III highlight reel fast break dunk. The easiest way to start the break, is to secure the defensive rebound. Jonas does this at an elite level. While he may not be the benefactor of many alley oops or fast break advance passes in his career, he has the ability to play the Kevin Love role of advancing the ball forward for his more athletic counterparts to put on a show for the fans.

On top of his high number of defensive rebounds, Jonas lead the league in total rebounding percentage which is the estimated percentage of available rebounds grabbed by the player while the player is on the court.

You still have the ability to play fast with a not so fast post player. The ball moves faster than any player on the floor. To have a big with the ability to secure the defensive rebound at a high rate and advance the ball, might not be the worst thing in the world to have.



Availability

The most important ability is availability and this sediment means even more for the often injury prone Pelicans. Jonas played in 80 of the possible 83 games of the Pels 2022-2023 season which ties him for fifth most in the entire NBA.

The gift of not worrying about who your starting Center will be on a nightly basis, should not be a forgotten commodity. Jonas gives you that ease of mind more than all but two other center in the NBA(Vucevic & Sabonis). Availability creates continuity, continuity creates chemistry, chemistry is the key ingredient to success.

JV and CJ McCollum often displayed this chemistry through the two man game they often ran seamlessly. While I would agree that the combo of Zion and Valanciunas often looked clunky and discombobulated at times, I would submit to you the idea that with time and continuity those rocky parts could’ve been smoothed out.

Jonas may not be everything you look for at the Center position in the modern NBA, but he is still a very skilled, more than serviceable basketball player. Could you find a better fit next to your star players? Possibly, but unless it’s he is a defensive staple in the NBA would it be worth it? That’s a question I will leave for you to answer.

- Dylan Mckneely (@DylanMckneely)