Jonas Valanciunas wasted no time pushing back after a report claimed his next stop was already locked in.
The Denver Nuggets recently released the veteran backup center, and in the days since, speculation has swirled that a move overseas could be coming. That chatter picked up after Krepsinis.net reported that Valanciunas had signed with Zalgiris Kaunas in Lithuania. Valanciunas responded directly to the report.
“You wake up, and everything has already been decided for you-you don't even really need to make any decisions yourself,” wrote Valanciunas alongside laughing emojis. “…Thanks, chroniclers.”
Valanciunas’ time in Denver was a mixed bag. He gave the Nuggets useful backup minutes behind Nikola Jokic at times, but he also struggled to stay on the floor in their playoff series loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. That postseason showing likely made Denver’s decision to move on easier.
Before he joined the Nuggets, there was already plenty of belief that Valanciunas might head to Europe. Instead, he took the Denver deal and spent the season backing up Jokic. He brought size, and he flashed the passing touch that has long made him more than just a bruiser in the paint.
Now the question is where he goes from here. It could still be the NBA, or it could be somewhere else entirely.
Denver, meanwhile, has its own business to handle. One of the bigger items on the list is wing Peyton Watson, who is a restricted free agent. After watching several key players leave in free agency over the past couple of seasons, Nuggets fans are hoping the team can keep the young forward, no matter the cost.
In Other News...
Nuggets Still Have One Offseason Domino Holding Up The Rest
A busy July around the NBA has left plenty of reported moves sitting in limbo, and Denver is among the teams still waiting for the paperwork to catch up with the headlines. Around the league, trades and free-agent deals have been announced before or during the moratorium, but several of them still need to be finalized, and the Nuggets are part of that broader holding pattern as they sort through the last pieces of their offseason.
For Denver, the delay is tied to the clubs own cap housekeeping, with restricted free agents Peyton Watson and Spencer Jones part of the equation as the front office works through what comes next. The Nuggets have already lined up signings on paper, but the timing matters because the wrong sequence could complicate how cleanly they can complete the rest of the roster, especially if they need to keep enough flexibility for minimum-salary additions. [Read more 🡒]
Nuggets Just Got A Brutal Verdict On Their Offseason Approach
The Nuggets have spent much of the offseason in a quieter lane than many around the league expected, making only a handful of moves while trying to keep the roster intact. Denver signed Marvin Bagley and Alpha Diallo, brought back Tyus Jones, and moved on from Tim Hardaway Jr. and Jonas Valanciunas, a conservative approach that reflects how little flexibility the front office has with contracts and future draft picks.
That restraint is not drawing much praise so far. The Athletics Zach Harper handed Denver a D- for its offseason to this point, pointing to the way the team has handled its depth and the lack of obvious answers behind the main rotation pieces. For a Nuggets team that was always likely to be judged by how it filled out the edges, the early verdict has been a harsh one. [Read more 🡒]
Nuggets Face A Real Peyton Watson Standoff This Offseason
Peyton Watsons breakout season gave the Nuggets exactly the kind of offseason leverage teams hope for with a young restricted free agent. After posting career highs across the board and emerging as a real rotation piece in Denver, Watson has become one of the more intriguing names on the market, with rival interest building around the possibility of a sign-and-trade.
The challenge for Denver is that interest only matters if the return matches Watsons value, and that is where the standoff begins. The Nuggets have made it clear they are not looking to move him cheaply, while Watsons camp is pushing for a deal that reflects his rise, leaving Denver to weigh whether to keep a player it likes or find a package that justifies parting with him. [Read more 🡒]