Jonas Valanciunas Confirms His Stay with the Nuggets for Next Season
Lithuanian center Jonas Valanciunas has officially confirmed his intention to fulfill his contract and play with the Denver Nuggets next season. This decision comes despite strong interest from the Greek team Panathinaikos, of the Euroleague, which sought to lure the player back to Europe. The Nuggets acquired Valanciunas in a deal with the Sacramento Kings earlier this month. However, reports emerged about Panathinaikos’ interest in signing the 2.11-meter tall player. This situation generated some uncertainty, given that Valanciunas has one guaranteed year left on his contract worth approximately 10 million dollars.“I want to clarify my playing situation for next season now that Denver has made the decision to keep me. The idea of playing for Panathinaikos, closer to home, was very exciting for me, but that will have to wait. I am fully committed to fulfilling my contract with the Nuggets this season and will give my best to compete for the championship,” Valanciunas told BasketNews.
Jonas Valanciunas
This is Valanciunas’ first official statement on the matter since the reports surfaced. It comes three days after Nuggets executive vice president of basketball operations Ben Tenzer stated that there was “no concern” about Valanciunas’ arrival in Denver.
“There have been nothing but positive conversations about him fulfilling his contract and being excited to be a Nugget,” Tenzer said last week. The transfer of Valanciunas, 33 years old, seems to be the final touch to a productive offseason in which Tenzer and Jonathan Wallace remodeled the team. These decisions were made after the seventh game loss against Oklahoma City, NBA champion, in the second round. The Nuggets also signed forward Cam Johnson in a deal that sent Michael Porter Jr., a key contributor in their 2023 title run, to Brooklyn. Denver added Bruce Brown, who was part of their championship, and guard/forward Tim Hardaway Jr. Tenzer mentioned that they have had productive conversations with Valanciunas, who will play with Lithuania in the FIBA EuroBasket this summer. Someone from the Nuggets could even travel there. “His plan is for him to arrive here as soon as possible, but we are still working on that,” Wallace said. “We’ll address it at that time.” Valanciunas comes from a season in which he divided his time between Washington and Sacramento. He averaged 10.4 points, 7.7 rebounds and two assists in 81 games. Denver counts on him to give occasional rest to three-time MVP Nikola Jokic, who averaged 36.7 minutes per game last season, the most of his career.
