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TSN Raptors Reporter

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TORONTO - It's easy to forget Jonas Valanciunas is only 23 years old.

The seven-foot Lithuanian has three seasons of NBA experience under his belt, starting all but five of the games he's played and missed only three contests due to injury over the past two years.

He was thrown into the fire as a rookie and has been learning on the fly ever since. The Raptors, like everyone watching at home, have witnessed his better moments as well as the growing pains, but they've seen enough to trust that Valanciunas is a worthwhile gamble.

On Thursday, Toronto made a sizeable investment in Valanciunas' future, signing the young centre to a long-term contract extension, reportedly worth $64-million (U.S.) over four years, with an opt out after three.

The deal came together rather quickly.

Valanciunas was in Lithuania, training with the national team and preparing for the upcoming Olympic qualifying tournament, when he got a call from his agent, Leon Rose. Rose and Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri had been in contact off and on since last season ended, but when talks began to heat up earlier this week Valanciunas hopped on a plane and headed to Toronto.

Although both parties are assuming some risk with this deal, they were highly motivated to get it done.

"I was happy," Valanciunas said, shortly after putting pen to paper. "It's a great opportunity for me to stay in a good city. I love Toronto. I love to play here. It's my second home."

"I feel good about it. I feel good about next season. Contract is just a contract. Now we have to do a job."

In many respects, Valanciunas has made great strides since debuting for the Raptors back in 2012, blossoming as a low-post scorer - one of the most efficient in the NBA - and becoming a strong rebounder. Still, Ujiri and the team's front office strongly believe that his best is yet to come. They would have to in order to justify such a rich investment.

"I think [Valanciunas] will get better with time," Ujiri told reporters on the lower level of the Air Canada Centre Thursday afternoon. "The feel of the game comes with playing and, I think, the experience. So we're hoping with this time, hopefully in the earlier part of the contract, he starts to get these things together."

"But the kid loves the game and I think he's going to get so much better with time and part of our jobs is to be patient. And I think this is us being patient."

This is not the first mention of patience in reference to Valanciunas' continued development, and it likely won't be the last. Ujiri and head coach Dwane Casey have been preaching it since the get go, despite the lofty expectations that come with being a former fifth-overall pick.

Why isn't he further along? Why isn't he scoring more? Why isn't he a dominant force on defence? Why isn't he playing more? To their credit, the Raptors have never wavered in their support of their young centre, at least not publicly. It's a process, they routinely insist.

For now, we can evaluate this contract relative to where it fits in the current state of the market. It looks favourable, but ultimately we'll judge it based on what Valanciunas becomes. Simply put, the Raptors are betting that his future production exceeds his previous body of work.

There's obvious reason for optimism. Valanciunas averaged a career-high of 12 points to go along with 8.7 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in just 26 minutes per game last season. He ranked second in the league, shooting an impressive 57 per cent from the field.

Still, during the most crucial moments of the game Valanciunas was often a spectator, much to the dismay of the team's fan base. Toronto's starting centre did not log a single fourth-quarter minute in over a quarter of the games he played last season (23 of 80). He averaged just over five minutes in the fourth quarters he did play, ranking ninth among Toronto's regulars. Agree or disagree with the rationale, Casey has been consistent and steadfast in his preference to go small, matching up with the opposition and using quicker, more versatile defenders to close games.

With Valanciunas locked up at a price that should reflect the team's commitment to him, there's some onus on the coaching staff to better utilize the seven-footer, even adapting their defensive schemes to help keep him on the floor, something Casey has alluded to since the Raptors were swept from the playoffs. But most of all, to earn his coach's trust Valanciunas will have to show continued improvement guarding the pick and roll and making decisions with the ball in his hands, particularly when the opposition sends a second defender at him.

Fortunately for the Raptors, they have a determined, hard-working and self-aware player in Valanciunas, one that vows to make the necessary improvements to his game and earn this new contract, which will kick in for the 2016-17 season.

"It depends on me," Valanciunas acknowledged. "I've got to get better defensively. That's what we're doing. I think the national team is going to help me to prepare for the season. It's actually good preparation and I'm going to come back to Toronto in September ready. So it depends on me. I've got to bring it to that level now."

"I'm looking forward to getting better, to being a better player," he continued. "Now everything is in the right place. Now we just have to bring it to the court and do our jobs. I want to win and I'm going to do everything to be successful."

His attitude, approach and commitment to getting better should not be overlooked. That was a big factor in Ujiri's decision to re-up Valanciunas at the required cost.

In 2010, former Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo rolled the dice on an unproven forward by the name of Amir Johnson, re-signing him to a five-year, $34-million deal that was highly critiqued at the time. Two seasons later, Colangelo extended DeMar DeRozan at a price ($40-million over four years) that would also raise eyebrows.

Thanks in large part to their character and work ethic, those deals turned out to be home runs for the Raptors. Johnson established himself as one of the team's most valuable contributors for years before signing with Boston as a free agent this summer, while DeRozan grew into an all-star and will command a max (or near max) deal when he opts out of that contract after this season.

Betting on those types of players, on those types of people drastically reduces the risk associated with any long-term extension.

"You want to build culture," Ujiri said. "You want to build with not only the right players on the court, but off the court [as well] and I think [Valanciunas], he really shows a lot of that."

"There were points where, we feel with big guys it's going to be slower than the usual guards or wings in terms of development. We understand that and I know we keep saying that, but [Valanciunas] is 23-years-old so [we've given] him some security and let him now concentrate on playing basketball and winning. It's big for us. We feel he made progress. He's a great kid, loves the city, loves the fans, loves everything about Toronto and that's what we want to embrace here."