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The Denver Nuggets have had one of the best offseasons in the NBA so far as free agency winds down and NBA Summer League gets going. The Nuggets had success on the free agent market, but they also made a pair of key trades including the acquisition of Jonas Valanciunas from the Sacramento Kings.
Shortly after that trade, sending Dario Saric back to Sacramento, went through, the Nuggets ran into a bit of a speed bump. Valanciunas' availability with the Nuggets quickly came into question after reports that he was considering going overseas to play for Greek team Panathinaikos.
However, that would only be possible if the Nuggets allowed him to get out of his NBA contract, and now they have made a final decision on that front. The Nuggets are going to keep Valanciunas with the expectation that he will be the backup for Nikola Jokic according to ESPN's Shams Charania.
“Denver has informed Jonas Valanciunas' reps that the franchise fully intends to have him honor his contract as the Nuggets view Valanciunas as a critical center addition to back up Nikola Jokic and play alongside him,” Charania reported on X, formerly Twitter. “Greek team Panathinaikos pursued Valanciunas in recent days.”
The Nuggets also pulled off a very high-profile trade, sending Michael Porter Jr. to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Cam Johnson. With that deal, Denver gets some salary relief and also improves their perimeter defense while maintaining most of the elite shooting that made Porter such a good fit next to Jokic and company.
With Bruce Brown returning to the Mile High City and Tim Hardaway Jr. coming in on a minimum contract, Valanciunas seemed like the final piece of the puzzle for the Nuggets to challenge at the very top of the Western Conference. They were nearly able to knock off the Oklahoma City Thunder during their championship run and seemed to improve this offseason.
Now, if Valanciunas is bought in, there's an argument to be made that the Nuggets have patched up all of their holes this offseason and will be set for another run at title contention in 2025-26.
