3. Jonas Valanciunas
Jonas Valanciunas is only 27-years-old. Don’t forget that, as he is in the prime of his career and he showed it late last season. Last season Valanciunas was traded to the Grizzlies in a deal that centered around Marc Gasol.
At the time, some Grizzlies fans probably wondered, why? Well, Valanciunas played well down the stretch and those questions were being answered by the day.
With the Grizzlies, the experienced big man dominated most nights. He averaged 19.9 points and 10.7 rebounds in 27.7 minutes in 19 games with the team.
Throughout his career in Toronto, he showed flashes of brilliance some nights then he would go back to being average.
For six straight seasons, he averaged between 12-13 points and around eight rebounds a contest in 25 minutes. One can bet that this will be a career season for him as he is without question a go-to guy on Grizzlies.
Look for Valanciunas to be Ja Morant‘s favorite teammate as he will get him plenty of assists this season. A stat line of 17 points and nine rebounds is realistic for the talented big man.