The Washington Wizards are in the midst of a rebuild with young players like Alex Sarr, Bub Carrington and Bilal Coulibaly at center. Add in younger veterans like Jordan Poole and Kyle Kuzma and you have the makings of a young, developing and hopefully improving team.

Then there’s Jonas Valanciunas, 32. The 6-foot-2 is a solid player on both ends of the floor, averaging 12.2 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. And while he’s not necessarily a blocker, his size, strength and positioning make him a very effective defender in and around the paint. Signing him to a three-year, $30 million deal seems a bit out of place, given that the Wizards are far from playoff contention, but there are some benefits to having the big Lithuanian on the team.

One of the benefits of having Valanciunas on the team right now is that he can mentor young French rookie Alex Sarr. The Wizards’ second overall pick in last year’s draft is still inexperienced and unproven, but he has tremendous potential and versatility. If he can learn something from the veteran Valanciunas, that would be a good thing.

Valanciunas can and will help the Wizards win more games right now. No one expects the Wiz to go from 15 wins to 50, but Valanciunas is an experienced, starting, above-average center who can calm things down for a team on both ends of the floor. That presence should help the young Wizards see how things play out and increase their win total at least a little bit.

Finally, and most importantly and most importantly, Valanciunas is an elite player to trade at the trade deadline. Teams across the NBA that are either close to winning a title or need depth at the position will be fighting for a player like Valanciunes when it comes time to build the best team possible for a title run. It’s hard to say in September what kind of return the Wizards would get for a player like Valanciunas, but draft capital and more young talent will likely be on the menu, which is in keeping with the Wizards’ rebuild. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out starting next month when the Wizards open the regular season on Oct. 24 against the defending champion Boston Celtics.

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