Raptors' Valanciunas out for Lithuania due to illness at EuroBasket

Lithuania will be without EuroBasket 2015's fourth-leading scorer when they take on Estonia on Wednesday.

Fans of the Toronto Raptors can rest fairly easy, as Jonas Valanciunas is being held out due to illness rather than injury. Lithuanian team doctor Vytenis Trumpickas said Wednesday that Valanciunas ran a fever at practice and was sent back to the hotel for medication and rest.

The recipient of a reported four-year, $64-million contract extension in August, the 23-year-old Valanciunas has been dominant on the offensive end through three tournament games. He's averaging 19.7 points, 10 rebounds, and one block while shooting 51 percent from the floor, helping Lithuania to a 2-1 start despite a disappointing upset loss to Belgium.

Lithuania plays again Thursday but could choose to rest Valanciunas until the more important Round of 16, which begins Saturday. Starting there, the single-elimination format will punch two tickets to the 2016 Olympics and send four others to the 2016 Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Valanciunas took minor steps forward in his third NBA campaign last season, averaging 12 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks while shooting 57.2 percent.

A strong finisher with excellent footwork and the highest points-per-possession on post-ups among qualified players, Valanciunas has self-identified defense as a key area for improvement. That's tough to argue - the Raptors gave up an additional 1.6 points per-100 possessions with him on the floor last season and he often sat in fourth quarters for that reason - though he did grade out well based on advanced rim-protection stats from Nylon Calculus.