Report: Raptors will not give Valanciunas, Wright, Miles championship rings
Jonas Valanciunas, Delon Wright and C.J. Miles will not be receiving championship rings from the Toronto Raptors, Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun reported on Sunday afternoon.
The trio was involved in the February trade that sent them to the Memphis Grizzlies and Marc Gasol to Toronto.
“It’s not an easy decision but, to be honest, I think it’s standard,” said Raptors general manager Bobby Webster following Toronto’s loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night, according to Ganter. “I mean we did our homework, we talked to teams and I think – I don’t remember – there was maybe one scenario where a team offered one. I think it was Anderson Varejao in Golden State but I think it was a really unique circumstance.
“It’s obviously not a feel-good thing but I think that’s the way the league is.”
Management also took some input from their players before making the decision, per Ganter.
While the three finished the 2018-19 season in Memphis after the deal, they have since gone their separate ways. Valanciunas is still with the Grizzlies, Wright was involved in a sign-and-trade over the summer that landed him with the Mavericks and Miles is currently playing for the Washington Wizards after being traded for Dwight Howard in July.
It’s a difficult pill to swallow, but one that Wright seems to be handling well.
“It was tough because I had just been there with them, I was really a part of that team just a couple months removed,” Wright said about watching his former teammates win the franchise’s first NBA title in June, according to Ganter. “I just had to be happy for them. I was happy with my situation too so it was a win-win.”
After being selected by the Raptors in the first round of the 2015 draft, Wright played the first three-and-a-half seasons of his NBA career with Toronto.
Valanciunas may be feeling a little different about how things have shaken out. He hinted that he may be getting a ring at the end of August based on a conversation he had with Kyle Lowry.
“Kyle texted me and said, ‘What’s your ring size?’” he said to a group of reporters in a scrum for Team Lithuania ahead of the FIBA World Cup in China.
“I asked him, ‘What, wedding ring?”’ Valanciunas recalled. “We’ll see. I’m hopeful.”
The fifth overall pick in the 2011 draft, Valanciunas spent six-and-a-half seasons with the Raptors before being part of the exchange for Gasol.
Miles was in the midst of his second season in Toronto when he was traded.
Most of the championship roster received their custom rings ahead of the Raptors’ 2019-20 season opener against the New Orleans Pelicans in October.
More NBA coverage on Yahoo Sports
