The reviews have been unanimous. Whether locally or nationally, almost everyone is praising the offseason the Denver Nuggets have had thus far. And why not? The team has made four big additions, building a more balanced roster around Nikola Jokic.
One of the big transactions was a trade that sent Dario Šarić to Sacramento in exchange for center Jonas Valanciunas. It’s a deal that looked to provide the Nuggets with their first legitimate backup for The Joker in years, something that would help the team navigate those always-tricky “non-Jokic minutes.”
But in the immortal words of Lee Corso, “Not so fast, my friends.” It now appears as thought Valanciunas might spurn the Nuggets for a team overseas.
League sources confirm that the lure of a return to Europe holds strong appeal to Jonas Valanciunas … which could lead to him seeking a buyout from his NBA contract to join Panathinaikos as @Urbodo reports.
Would scuttle what seemed like such a promising addition for Denver. https://t.co/U7UAb97t9v
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 3, 2025
That would certainly a curveball. How the Nuggets deal with the situation is anyone’s guess. But they have options.
First, they can try to convince Valanciunas to stay in Denver. With Jokic on the roster and the Nuggets as one of the favorites to win the NBA title next year, they have a good pitch to make.
Second, they could let Valanciunas walk and use the $10,395,000 the center is set to make this season to sign a free agent. Al Horford is probably the biggest name still on the market.
And finally, the trade could still fall through. As Stein added in a later tweet…
“The agreed-to trade between Denver and Sacramento to swap Dario Saric for Jonas Valanciunas cannot be made official until Sunday. The Kings still need the trade to go through for salary cap reasons, but the Nuggets’ ability to convince Valanciunas to stay in the NBA is TBD.”
The third option seems like the least attractive for the Nuggets. Šarić isn’t a part of the plan in Denver, so getting rid of his $5.4 million salary and gaining flexibility appears to be Denver’s best option if they can’t convince Valanciunas to stay in the NBA.
