The Denver Nuggets received glowing praise this past week when they acquired center Jonas Valanciunas from the Sacramento Kings, finally solving their long-standing need for a backup behind Nikola Jokic. Now, Valanciunas is considering leaving the NBA.
NBA insider Marc Stein reported that the Nuggets are moving forward with the trade for Valanciunas, which can be made official on Sunday. The team is “determined” to keep him as their backup behind Nikola Jokic, despite a standing offer from Panathinaikos in Greece.
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- Jonas Valanciunas contract (Spotrac): $10.395 million salary (2025-26), $10 million salary (2026-27) is non-guaranteed until June 29, 2026
Valanciunas, age 33, flew to Greece this weekend to meet with officials from Panathinaikos. He has been offered a three-year deal worth €12 million after taxes. While he seemingly wants to play in Greece, effectively ending his NBA career, the decision is not entirely in his control at this time.
As Stein noted, Valanciunas cannot sign with a EuroLeague team until he is released from his NBA contract. Without negotiating a buyout with Denver and thus receiving FIBA clearance, he cannot play for Panathinaikos.
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- Jonas Valanciunas stats: 10.4 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 2.0 APG, 55% FG in 18.8 MPG
This is the second consecutive year that the Kings have traded a player who immediately wanted to play overseas. Last offseason, Sacramento traded Sasha Vezenkov to the Toronto Raptors. The difference, however, is that Toronto was fine with letting Vezenkov go and taking him off their books.
The Nuggets acquired Valanciunas to be their backup center, finally adding a reliable big man who could allow Jokic to rest for 10-15 minutes per game. So, as much as Valanciunas might want to leave for Greece, Denver has the final say.
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