In Denver, the plan to have a backup center to give Nikola Jokic rest seems no longer necessary. The Denver Nuggets are hoping to have Jonas Valanciunas on the team at the start of the season, clearing up speculation about his future in the NBA. Denver’s trade with Sacramento, which involved the acquisition of Valanciunas, 6’11”, in exchange for Dario Saric, was made official last weekend. Previously, reports emerged that Valanciunas was being considered by the Greek team Panathinaikos, of the Euroleague. This generated some confusion, given that Valanciunas has two years left on his NBA contract, worth over $20 million. There are only healthy conversations about him fulfilling his contract and being excited to be a Nugget. Ben Tenzer, Nuggets executive vice president of basketball operations, tried to quell speculation about Valanciunas’ arrival during a press conference on Friday, in which Cam Johnson was introduced.
Are there no concerns about Valanciunas not being with the Nuggets at the start of the season?
“No worries,” Tenzer stated. The transfer of Valanciunas, 33 years old, seems to be the perfect complement to a productive offseason in which the management tandem formed by Tenzer and Jonathan Wallace remodeled the team. These modifications occurred after the defeat in the seventh game against Oklahoma City, NBA champion, in the second round. The Nuggets also got 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 run, and guard/forward Tim Hardaway Jr. Tenzer indicated that they have had productive conversations with Valanciunas, who is scheduled to play with Lithuania in the FIBA EuroBasket this summer. Someone from the Nuggets could even travel there.Valanciunas comes from a season in which he split 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 Jokic an occasional rest. Jokic, 30 years old, averaged 36.7 minutes per game last season, the highest figure of his career.Their plan is for him to arrive here as soon as possible, but they are still working on it. We will address it at that time.
Jonathan Wallace
