June 13th, 2011 
Russ Loede 
Posted in 
Will GM Chris Grant Still Consider Jonas At #4?
The top-rated center in the 2011 NBA Draft has been up for debate – and still is. With the draft less than two weeks away (Thursday, June 23), there’s still much speculation whether it’s Turkey’s Enes Kanter (ineligible for Kentucky last season) or Valanciunas.
We may not find out the answer until draft night, but what we do know is it will be very interesting; seeing Jonas Valanciunas is staying in the draft despite possible rumors of him pulling out due to complicated buyout issues.
According to Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com via Twitter, it’s “definite” he’s staying in the draft.
Valanciunas just told me he is staying in the draft, no matter what bad speculation/guessing is going around. He said it is definite.
How this affects the top-five will be a thing to watch come June 23. I can see it shaking out in a number of different ways.
Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld, mentioned last week that Valanciunas could go #2 to Minnesota instead of Kanter. Also, it’s been said that the Cavs clearly have Valanciunas rated higher than Kanter. As for Kanter, his stock is dropping considerably according to Kyler:
Almost none… he is the 2nd best center behind Jonas Valanciunas… more chance of Jonas going #2 than Kanter.
I have yet to find a team in the top 10 that really loves him… He could go #4 to Cleveland, he could go #6 to Washington
However, even if the Cavs do have Valanciunas above Kanter on their draft board, Real GM believes the center may fall due to the buyout issues:
The buyout in the contract of Jonas Valanciunas with Lietuvos Rytas will be raised to at least $3 million USD, confirmed agent Sarunas Broga to RealGM.
Valanciunas has widely been projected to become a top-five pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, but a more financially difficult buyout would surely impact his draft status.
I wonder how much of an impact this will have when the Cavs make their pick, assuming they don’t trade it, seeing that they would like to draft the Lithuania center ahead of the 6-foot-11, 260-pound guy from Turkey. Nonetheless, you can see why so many options are being considered at the moment with the fourth overall pick, and right now, everything’s up in the air; except for Kyrie at #1 – isn’t that a lock, right?
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