Jonas Valanciunas has spoken.
He plans to play for the Denver Nuggets.
Valanciunas clarified his stance Monday for the first time since he was traded to the Nuggets from the Sacramento Kings.
“I want to clear the air about my playing situation next season now that Denver has made their decision to keep me,” Valanciunas told BasketNews. “The idea of playing for Panathinaikos, closer to home, was very exciting to me, but that will have to wait.
“I am fully committed to honoring my contract with the Nuggets this season and will give it my all to compete for a championship.”
The Nuggets acquired Valanciunas to offer much-needed relief for three-time MVP center Nikola Jokić. But shortly after the July 2 trade, news broke that Valanciunas was being courted by Greek EuroLeague team Panathinaikos, leading to speculation that he would not play for Denver.
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Monday’s statement should bring a conclusion to that speculation after Valanciunas previously declined to commit to Denver when given the chance.
Jonas Valanciunas ended speculation that he wouldn’t report to the Nuggets amid reported offers from Greece’s Panathinaikos.
(Tyler McFarland/Clarkson Creative via Getty Images)
Valanciunas previously wasn’t so clear
Valanciunas is under contract with Denver on the second year of a three-year, $30.3 million deal. Since news of Panathinaikos’ interest in Valanciunas, Nuggets brass have made it clear that they intend for Valanciunas to honor his contract.
“There’s been nothing but healthy conversations in terms of him honoring his contract and him excited to be a Nugget,” executive vice president of basketball operations Ben Tenzer said at a news conference last week.
Valanciunas’ contract extends his professional basketball rights exclusively to the NBA team that holds them. If he were to sign with Panathinaikos, which is much closer to his home country of Lithuania, he could do so only with the blessing of a Nuggets team that just traded for him.
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Valanciunas had previously offered a non-committal answer when asked about the topic by Lithuanian media.
“We will find out only when the first game is played,” Valanciunas said on July 8. “Everything will be clear.”
[Get more Nuggets news: Denver team feed]
Once it became clear that Denver didn’t intend to release him from his contract, Valanciunas had little recourse to continue playing for a team that’s not the Nuggets. On Monday, he made clear that he intends to report to Denver and “give it my all.”
Which is good news for the Nuggets. The addition of Valanciunas is a key piece of an offseason roster overhaul that the Nuggets hope will return them to title contention, three seasons after Jokić led the franchise to its sole NBA championship.
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Key addition for Nuggets
Jokić played 36.7 minutes per game last season, the most of his career by more than two minutes per game. He did so because the Nuggets lacked an effective backup center, and the Nuggets were significantly worse when Jokić was off the floor.
Jokić faced physical matchups in the post in a pair of grueling seven-game playoff series when matched up against Clippers center Ivica Zubac and Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein. Without a viable backup, Jokić’s minutes increased in the postseason to 40.2 per game.
At 6-foot-11 and 265 pounds, Valanciunas is a physical presence in the post who can provide Jokić with much-needed relief in similar situations. He was an impact player for the Kings and Wizards last season, with averages of 10.4 points and 7.7 rebounds in just 18.8 minutes per game.
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Valanciunas joins Cam Johnson, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Bruce Brown as new faces in Denver from last season’s team that took the eventual champion Oklahoma City Thunder to seven games in a tightly contested second-round playoff series.
