Jonas Valanciunas on upcoming free agency: 'I'm not thinking about that at all'
But he and the team could not agree on an extension, so Valanciunas will play out the final year of his contract without knowing what’s on the other side of it. “I’m not thinking about that at all,” he said. “I am just going to play hoop. To play basketball. It’s one year at a time. I am just going to leave everything out there. “Where the future is going to take me, it’s a mystery. But it’s funny that way. You don’t know what can happen tomorrow. You have to enjoy today. You have to enjoy this year. You have to enjoy every game you play. You just try to be the best version of you. That’s what my approach is.”
Source: CHRISTIAN CLARK @ New Orleans Times-Picayune
Source: CHRISTIAN CLARK @ New Orleans Times-Picayune
What’s the buzz on Twitter?
Christian Clark @cclark_13
Talked to Jonas Valanciunas about playing in a contract year and what it means to be a good teammate nola.com/sports/pelican… – 5:46 PM
Talked to Jonas Valanciunas about playing in a contract year and what it means to be a good teammate nola.com/sports/pelican… – 5:46 PM
Jim Eichenhofer @Jim_Eichenhofer
Jonas Valanciunas (12 pts, 12 reb, 2/4 on threes) on postgame radio with @NTGraff, discussing 111-104 victory at Memphis: “It’s refreshing. It’s a good feeling to come here and get a W. It was a good game for us.” – 11:06 PM
Jonas Valanciunas (12 pts, 12 reb, 2/4 on threes) on postgame radio with @NTGraff, discussing 111-104 victory at Memphis: “It’s refreshing. It’s a good feeling to come here and get a W. It was a good game for us.” – 11:06 PM
Will Guillory @WillGuillory
Pelicans starters:
CJ McCollum
Herb Jones
Brandon Ingram
Zion Williamson
Jonas Valanciunas – 7:42 PM
Pelicans starters:
CJ McCollum
Herb Jones
Brandon Ingram
Zion Williamson
Jonas Valanciunas – 7:42 PM
More on this storyline
Christian Clark: Jonas Valanciunas: “Playing with Z, you have to find your spacing. You have to help him by finding your own spacing. He’s really good operating down low. It’s on us how we are going to find spacing. He is a willing passer. We just have to find right spacing, right movement.” pic.twitter.com/tGzn5i1roe -via Twitter @cclark_13 / October 11, 2023
Jonas Valanciunas, 31, has not missed a single major international tournament since being promoted from the junior level to the senior national team of Lithuania in 2011. His experience stretches from appearances in the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games to five editions of EuroBasket, including two silver medals. The 2023 FIBA World Cup marked his third campaign in FIBA’s flagship international tournament. “I feel proud playing for my country,” he commented on his remarkable resilience, “That is what I can give for my country. This is how I can put my country on the map. I am going to keep doing that until my body lets me and until the team needs me.” -via EuroHoops.net / September 9, 2023