Fresh off of a thrilling postseason run, the Pelicans enter the 2022-23 season with lofty expectations fueled largely by the imminent return of Zion Williamson. And while a healthy Williamson will be the driving force behind New Orleans’ leap this season, it’s Jonas Valanciunas who could hold the key to unlocking the team’s potential.
In today’s NBA, a starting frontcourt of two bruising bigs isn’t exactly the norm, which makes the pairing of Valanciunas and Williamson slightly difficult to envision ahead of time. As both players operate largely in the paint, how will they coexist in the era of pace and space?
Look no further than Valanciunas’ performance with the Lithuanian national team at EuroBasket 2022 for some semblance of an idea, as he shares the floor with two-time All-Star Domantas Sabonis.
I get it, this isn’t exactly the cleanest of one-for-one comparisons — Williamson is five inches shorter, around 40 pounds heavier and the differences in athleticism make way for different playstyles. But measurements aside, there are other numbers that make for similarities.
This past NBA season, two-thirds of Sabonis’ offense came in the paint, where he averaged 12.5 points per game, good for 10th in the league. The last time Williamson was on an NBA floor? He averaged a league-high and Shaq-like 20.3 paint points per game, which made up over 75 percent of his scoring. See where this is going?
In each of the past two seasons, Valanciunas’ paint scoring was among the league’s best. He averaged his fewest paint points in 2021-22 since the 2017-18 season, and yet it was still enough to lead the Pelicans by a mile. That isn’t exactly a coincidence.
While the FIBA game and NBA game are admittedly quite different, the ways Lithuania’s bigs operate together provide an idea of how Valanciunas can play to his strengths with the Pelicans while still giving Williamson room to dominate.
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Spacing the floor
Despite averaging the fewest paint points since 2017-18 (a year in which he averaged 12.7 points per game, no less), Valanciunas averaged a career-best 17.8 points per game last season. Related: Valanciunas also knocked down a career-best 57 triples at a 36.1 percent clip.
(Here’s a reminder that through 23 games last season, Valanciunas was connecting on 1.3 triples per game at a league-high 51.7 percent.)
To be clear, Valanciunas would not be playing to his strengths by converting to a stretch five, but his development as a capable shooter unlocks offensive capabilities for those that he shares the floor with.
Opposing defenses would much rather live with a 3-point attempt from Valanciunas than a downhill drive from Williamson, but difficult decisions will arise on nights when Valanciunas gets hot and the duo is sharing the floor with three of Brandon Ingram, CJ McCollum, Trey Murphy or Devonte’ Graham.
And in case you needed a reminder of what it looks like when Valanciunas gets hot:
Jonas WENT OFF
39 PTS
7-8 from 3️⃣
15 REB
3 AST
2 STL #WBD pic.twitter.com/yb3HXoRtbc— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) November 30, 2021
Of course, the above example is probably a once-in-a-lifetime showing from Valanciunas, but if he’s a threat to knock down at least one 3 each night, the Pelicans can have enough spacing for Williamson to get a full head of steam going downhill or post up on the block. He’ll get plenty of looks like this:
Big to big passing
In addition to a career-high in scoring, Valanciunas averaged a career-best 2.6 assists during his first season with the Pelicans, a product of his skill and basketball IQ.
At EuroBasket, Valanciunas dished out five assists as part of an incredible performance in an overtime loss to Germany. The spacing here is very clunky, but one of the five dimes came to a cutting Sabonis, who scored over a much smaller Dennis Schroder.
Could you imagine Valanciunas on the block finding a cutting Williamson for a finish? Nine times out of 10, it would be a powerful jam above the rim.
Sabonis even returned the favor to a cutting Valanciunas, something that “Point Zion,” who averaged 4.2 assists over the final 17 games of the 2020-21 season, would surely do as well.
The dirty work
While it’s important to acknowledge Valanciunas’ ability to shoot and pass, those two aspects of his game aren’t exactly what he’s known for.
As he enters the 10th season of his career, Valanciunas has earned the reputation of being one of the game’s most physical big men. Thanks in large part to his physicality, the 30-year-old is a walking double-double.
While physically imposing in his own right, Williamson has taken a few lumps from opposing defenses attempting to slow him down. One look at Valanciunas might cause some defenses to give those physical tactics a second thought.
The last time Williamson took an NBA floor, he shared the frontcourt with a physically imposing center in Steven Adams. The next time Williamson steps on the floor, he’ll share a frontcourt with a center that’s just as imposing but much more gifted offensively.
Williamson isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty on the glass and is exceptional at cleaning his own misses, but with Valanciunas by his side, the former No. 1 overall pick won’t have to expend any unnecessary energy on the boards. It will take some time, but there is a clear path for Williamson and Valanciunas to not only coexist but benefit off of one another’s strengths.
If you need any more help envisioning it, tune in to Lithuania at EuroBasket 2022.
Watch every EuroBasket 2022 game live and on demand with ESPN+. Sign up now to catch all of the action with some of the NBA’s biggest stars, including Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic and more. Stream all games from both the group stage and knockout round from Sept. 1 through the championship on Sept. 18.
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