{"id":785637,"date":"2026-07-13T15:15:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T15:15:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/785637\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T15:15:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T15:15:18","slug":"jonas-valanciunas-expected-to-sign-with-zalgiris-kaunas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/785637\/","title":{"rendered":"Jonas Valanciunas Expected To Sign With Zalgiris\u00a0Kaunas"},"content":{"rendered":"

8:27 am: Although Valanciunas and Zalgiris Kaunas have reached a preliminary agreement on contract terms, it\u2019s not a done deal yet, according to a report from BasketNews.com<\/a>, which states that the big man wants to fully evaluate his NBA options before finalizing his decision.<\/p>\n

\"\"Responding to this morning\u2019s report out of Lithuania, Valanciunas posted a comment on Instagram<\/a>. \u201cYou wake up and see that everything has been decided for you, don\u2019t need to do anything myself. Thank you, reporters,\u201d he wrote, accompanied by several smiley-face emojis.<\/p>\n

7:55 am: Former Nuggets center Jonas Valanciunas<\/a> is heading back to Europe and will sign a two-year deal with Zalgiris Kaunas in Lithuania, according to Jonas Leksas of the Lithuanian outlet Krepsinis.net (Twitter link<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Valanciunas had been under contract for next season, but Denver waived<\/a> him last Wednesday ahead of the deadline for his $10MM salary for 2026\/27 to become fully guaranteed. Instead, he received a $2MM guarantee on the final season of his three-year deal.<\/p>\n

The 34-year-old big man reportedly tried<\/a> to leave the NBA for Europe 12 months ago when he was being pursued by Panathinaikos in Greece. He traveled to Athens last July in anticipation of accepting a three-year offer, but the signing fell through when the Nuggets were unwilling to negotiate a buyout.<\/p>\n

After being acquired last summer from Sacramento in exchange for Dario Saric<\/a>, Valanciunas became Denver\u2019s primary backup to Nikola Jokic<\/a>. He appeared in 65 games, making six starts and averaging 8.7 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 13.4 minutes per night while shooting 58.2% from the floor. However, he was barely used in the playoffs, logging 25 total minutes in four games in Denver\u2019s first-round loss to Minnesota.<\/p>\n

Reports last week indicated that multiple NBA teams had interest in Valanciunas once he cleared waivers. The\u00a0Knicks<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Lakers<\/a> were listed among the possible suitors, but they both found other options for backup big men.<\/p>\n

Valanciunas\u2019 preference seemed to be a return to Europe, where he was a star for several years before coming to the NBA in 2012. With Zalgiris Kaunas, he will join a roster that includes several players with NBA ties, including Carsen Edwards<\/a>, Saben Lee<\/a>, Nigel Williams-Goss<\/a> and Sterling Brown<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The move appears to close the NBA chapter of Valanciunas\u2019 career after 14 seasons with Toronto, Memphis, New Orleans, Washington, Sacramento and Denver. He earned second-team All-Rookie honors in 2013, appeared in 1,002 regular season games (854 starts) and finished with career averages of 8.7 points and 5.1 rebounds.<\/p>\n

As we noted last week, Denver will have until August 29 to decide whether to keep Valanciunas\u2019 entire $2MM partial guarantee on its books for the upcoming season or use the stretch provision<\/a> to spread it out over three years. That would leave his cap charge for 2026\/27 at about $667K.<\/p>\n

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