Vlatko Cancar was drafted by the Denver Nuggets in 2017, and has been with the organization since 2019 when he finally made the jump from overseas basketball to the NBA. He has been a fan-favorite player who has had his good moments on the court and funny moments off, and was one of the longest-tenured players on the roster until this offseason.
Did Vlatko Cancar attempt an in-game free-throw line dunk!? pic.twitter.com/yLKPq0oKCA
— Andy Bailey (@AndrewDBailey) December 1, 2022
However, Cancar’s time in Denver had run its course and officially came to an end earlier in the offseason when it was announced that he would not be returning to the team for the 2025-26 season, and that he was in advanced discussions with a team in the EuroLeague.
Vlatko Cancar is expected to leave the NBA for Europe, with one EuroLeague club currently in advanced discussions, per sources.
More 👇https://t.co/Lkk7BMSXmn
— Donatas Urbonas (@Urbodo) July 2, 2025
The 6-foot-8, 236-pound small forward averaged 3.4 points per game in the five seasons of action he saw in Denver (he missed the 2023-24 campaign due to an ACL tear), with his two best campaigns coming in 2022, when the Nuggets were battling injuries all year, and 2023, when he played a career-high 60 games as a depth piece on the championship-winning squad. He was also a part of “the seven,” the group that went into Utah in 2020 and beat the Jazz despite having five players injured and another two not available due to trade complications.
THE SEVEN.#MileHighBasketball pic.twitter.com/ehlIsQ0ebw
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) February 6, 2020
Nikola Jokic, who had a measly 31 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists that night, and Jamal Murray are now the only guys left from one of the most iconic pictures in franchise history.
Cancar took to Instagram on Wednesday morning to say his thanks to the Nuggets and Denver as a whole, and made sure to include that iconic picture in his photo dump. He also included a picture of him playing in the Nuggets’ earned edition jersey from the 2020-21 season, one of the greatest uniforms the franchise has ever put out.
“I can say Denver is my second home,” Cancar said. “You will always have a fan for life and hopefully our paths cross down the road again so it is not a goodbye but a see you later!”
The Slovenian forward will likely end up being a guy that a group of friends brings up 15 years from now when they’re naming niche NBA players, but Nuggets fans will know him as a player who meant a little more to the organization than just being a bench piece, and his message back to the fans shows how strong the connection is between the two sides.
