Mar 5, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Sacramento Kings center Jonas Valanciunas (17) reacts after a play in the fourth quarter against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images
Jonas Valančiūnas came to the Sacramento Kings in the shadow of the NBA trade deadline – discarded by a Washington Wizards squad that needed him to play worse than he was and thrown onto a Kings squad desperate to make the playoffs in a desperate bid to prove they didn’t need De’Aaron Fox, or wings, or an experienced head coach, or adroit management, or a less meddlesome owner to deserve your money, I mean, attention. The swap wasn’t over or underwhelming in the moment, just one of those moves that just made sense for all sides – he was close to suddenly miscast Kings 1A Domantas Sabonis, he provided size to a team that was small and played smaller and, as Sacramento bravely aimed for lower end of the playoffs and inevitably fell short of those lofty goals, he gave the Kings plenitudes of that high stakes, play-in basketball experience. Experience that while useful on paper, did absolutely nothing to spur the team to even less-than-embarassing heights. Not JV’s fault… that’s just Kings basketball in the Vivek Era, baby.
So if you were to ask me to account for this first half season in Sacramento, if you were to ask: did his first 32 games in Sacramento amount to anything? The answer is simply, no.
But to his credit, does that mean it was a bad time? Absolutely not.
Guess this where we ought to dive into the stats a bit: Valančiūnas in his 32 appearances (8 starts) with Sacramento, averaged 8.7 points, 7 rebounds, 1.8 assists and .6 blocks, in 16.9 minutes and at least one moment a game where he reminded the audience (and opponents) that he was one big goddamn man out there on the floor, and without sarcasm here, he was entertaining as hell when he wanted to be. Riling up the crowd after a big block or dunk, flexing after drawing a foul, playing every part of the heel to the opposition, JV knew how to win over the increasingly frustrated factions inside the Kings fandom. Obviously there was some highlights in his short time in Sacramento – my mind immediately going to a Kings Nuggets game in which Domas was out and Jonas held his own against Nikola Jokic, going for 19 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists and nearly neutralizing the Joker’s 22 points, 15 rebounds and 6 assists (and seven turnovers) night. Sidenote: just because I know you’re curious, the Kings lost that game late in the 4th after hanging 42 points and going up 13 points in the first quarter.
Honestly, that game from JV and the ensuing result are a microcosm of what Valančiūnas can do for a team at this point in his career. He’s a solid body off the bench, bound to get you rebounds, give out a couple of hard fouls and back a guy down for two points when its needed. He can spot start, even body his way into 20 and 10, but he can’t do it every night or even two nights in a row. JV won’t lose you games, he won’t win you games, but he’ll bust his hump enough to give a good team a decent chance on a give night. The Kings just weren’t good enough after acquiring him to make those efforts, especially those during the stretch of games Sabonis sat, worth it.
Going forward, he’s just completed the first year of a 3 year, 30 million deal he originally signed with Washington, a deal that isn’t guaranteed in the final year. Depending on how Scott Perry and Co. decide they want to fix the mistakes of management past, I could see him staying, see him being used up as a night little bit of expiring moolah at the deadline, and I could see him being the default center after the Kings send Domas packing during a reset year. Everything is on the table, nothing should be expected.
Overall, I liked what JV brought to the floor. He isn’t young, isn’t particularly athletic, has no real upside at this point in his career, the best days are probably behind him and yet, it’s been so long since the Kings had a legitimate big man willing to get ugly and use that size as an intimidation factor that I found myself mildly enjoying his minutes. Will he and Sabonis be able to play the 4/5 together long term? Absolutely not. Is there a decent chance he winds up purged this summer? Yeah, totally. But let it be known that for 32 games last season the Kings had a legit big man as a back up, and he wasn’t an absolutely disaster.
I award Jonas: **A good ol’ solid B.**