Valanciunas was a coveted player heading into the 2024 offseason and several teams were interested in signing him as a free agent. Still, he chose to join the Wizards on a three-year, $30 million contract. Valanciunas is expected to operate as the Wizards' starting center to open the 2024-25 season, but the team signed him to mentor Alex Sarr, the second overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, as well. That off-court role shouldn't impact his fantasy upside, and there's a chance Valanciunas could be in line for a bounce-back performance. The veteran center posted down numbers in 2023-24, but the averages of 12.2 points and 8.8 rebounds in 23.5 minutes per game remain decent for fantasy purposes. Considering Valanciunas could operate as the Wizards' third-best offensive option behind Jordan Poole and Kyle Kuzma, he should have a decent shot at averaging a double-double for the fifth time over the last six campaigns. Even if he's not featured on offense, his traditional big man stats should be enough to make him valuable in all formats as long as he remains a starter. The center position gets thin outside of the top-tier players such as Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid and Bam Adebayo.
