Subscribe
Follow Us
Coming off a hard-fought playoff series defeat at the hands of the eventual champion Oklahoma City Thunder, the Denver Nuggets didn't waste much time in improving their roster for the 2025-26 campaign. They kicked off their offseason by trading Michael Porter Jr. and an unprotected 2032 first-round pick to the Brooklyn Nets for Cam Johnson, and then proceeded to follow that up with the signings of Bruce Brown and Tim Hardaway Jr. — replenishing the team's depth that they sorely missed over the past two seasons.
But in a stroke of genius from the Nuggets front office, they also managed to trade Dario Saric, someone who fell out of the rotation entirely for most of the 2024-25 season, to the Sacramento Kings to bring Jonas Valanciunas in. Backup center has long been a sore spot for the Nuggets, with the team dropping off whenever Nikola Jokic is on the bench, which meant that Valanciunas' arrival would be a much-needed remedy for something that's been ailing the team for quite some time.
Alas, there now is plenty of uncertainty on the Valanciunas front, as the Lithuanian big man is being courted by Greek basketball team Panathinaikos — tempting him to forego the last year of his NBA contract to return to Europe. With that, it's clear what the Nuggets must do to continue hitting it out of the park this offseason.
Nuggets must find another backup center, stat
It sure looked like the Nuggets were going to get the best backup center they've had for Jokic ever since they lost Mason Plumlee back in 2020, but Valanciunas seems to have other plans. It's not quite clear what has driven Valanciunas to this point, but the Nuggets have to act accordingly and proceed as if they're not going to have the 33-year-old center on the roster for next season.
It was a borderline miracle that they were able to trade Saric for Valanciunas straight up. But even if Valanciunas goes overseas, it is not the end of the world for the Nuggets. That departure would open up the full midlevel exception for the Nuggets, which means that they will have around $14.1 million of wiggle room to work with should Valanciunas sign with Panathinaikos.
Alas, the center market has dried up rather quickly in free agency. Al Horford remains available, but many insiders believe that him signing with the Golden State Warriors is as close to a done deal as it can get.
But perhaps there is a way for Horford to be convinced to sign with the Nuggets instead. The best offer the Warriors could give the veteran big man is the full taxpayer midlevel exception, which the Nuggets can easily outbid if Valanciunas leaves.
However, the Nuggets cannot afford to wait around, as this is a major area of need that needs urgent attention. The other backup options left on the free-agent market are Chris Boucher, Trey Lyles, and Isaiah Jackson (RFA, coming off a torn Achilles), which, suffice to say, don't come off as inspiring in the slightest.
Of course, the obvious pathway to any trade for a backup center is by dangling Zeke Nnaji and the remaining $23 or so million left on his contract over the next three seasons. Nnaji, suffice to say, hasn't met expectations in the Mile High City, and he found himself being left off the rotation for the majority of last season — a major black eye considering how thin Denver's roster was last season.
But if the Nuggets were able to somehow trade Saric's contract for Valanciunas, then perhaps they could work their magic again. Will the Philadelphia 76ers be interested in receiving a pick swap, giving up Andre Drummond to the Nuggets in exchange for Nnaji?
Maybe the Phoenix Suns, a team in dire need of some draft capital, would take on Nnaji's contract for some picks while giving up Nick Richards in the process. Perhaps Brandon Clarke could be available as the Memphis Grizzlies continue to remodel their team around Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr.
Or with the Washington Wizards still rebuilding, perhaps they'd decide to take a flier on Nnaji, sending Richaun Holmes and his expiring contract to the Nuggets in exchange.
Nnaji's contract is arguably one of the worst in the league, value-wise. But that should not stop the Nuggets from aggressively shopping him around to acquire a backup center. Doing so would allow them to kill two birds with one stone, and considering how the early goings of the offseason has gone thus far for the Nuggets, they're certainly capable of pulling off such sorcery.
