Anyone who thought all the intriguing Raptors’ news was done for the summer was thrown for a loop yesterday, when word came out that Jonas Valanciunas had left the Lithuanian National Team to return to Toronto for a physical, as he is rumored to be closing in on a long term extension with the team that drafted him.
Zarar took a quick look at the extension yesterday, but at the time little was known about the financials of such a deal. And while nothing is finalized at the moment, we at least have some rumors about about it might cost the Raptors to keep Jonas in the fold for the foreseeable future.
Over the last few months many had assumed that the basic starting point for any Valanciunas extension would likely cost the Raptors something similar to Enes Kanter’s contract. This summer Kanter agreed to a 4 year, $70+M max contract with the Portland Trail Blazers, a contract that was then matched by the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Enes Kanter, one of the worst defensive players of all time, managed to convince two teams that he is worth a max contract. Two teams!!! And all Toronto fans immediately panicked as to what this would mean for the Raptors.
Enter Mark Stein…
ESPN sources say Valanciunas extension is not done but sides are in advanced discussions on four-year pact worth in excess of $60 million
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) August 17, 2015
$60+ million for Valanciunas? Even if his contract comes out at $65 million over four years it comes out to an average of just $16.25 million. This contract would carry him into the start of his prime and give the Raptors added flexibility compared to if they were to wait to sign Valanciunas next summer. Valanciunas’ contract could be structured a few different ways.
The Raptors and Jonas could agree to a contract with equal payment each year (roughly $16.5M), or could start at a lower rate in the first year with raises of up to 7.5 percent annually. If this were the case, Jonas could start at roughly $14.5M in year one. Here’s what it could look like:
Year 1: $14,500,000
Year 2: $15,587,500
Year 3: $16,756,562
Year 4: $18,013,304
Total: $64,857,366
The big advantage to structuring Valanciunas’ contract this way is the additional cap space that it would provide the Raptors during next summer’s free agency. Without a contract extension being signed, Valanciunas would be a restricted free agent and would take up just $11,651,205 of the Raptors cap space due to his cap hold.
The above structure would secure Valanciunas’ presence in Toronto for the next four years but would only take an additional $2,848,795 (approximately) from the Raptors’ 2016 available spending room. If the contract comes in closer to $60M then these numbers drop even further and provide the Raptors with all the flexibility they could dream of.
As a player with six years or less experience in the NBA, next summer Jonas would be eligible for a max contract that accounts for 25% of a team’s salary cap. And with the cap ready to explode the numbers would be astronomical.
As reported, 4yrs/60m+ for JV would be a coup for TOR, max salary for next summer is 5/117m and 4/80m+max offer sheet from another team
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) August 17, 2015
The rumored contract extension would save the Raptors roughly $15-$20M, keep Valanciunas as a Raptor into the start of his prime years, and could leave Toronto with nearly as much salary space as they would have had with his cap hold.
If the contract comes in anywhere under $70M the Raptors have a heck of a deal on their hands, and if Valanciunas continues to develop the deal could become a steal as the salary cap rises even further.
