Jonas Valanciunas Expected to Make Shocking Decision After Kings Trade

The Sacramento Kings are coming off a season that wasn't anything remarkable, but wasn't anything bad either. They finished with a 40-42 record, which was good enough to qualify for the NBA Play-In Tournament as the No. 9 seed in the Western Conference.

However, that proved to be as far as they would go, falling to a short-handed Dallas Mavericks team in the first round 120-106. Doug Christie was later named the full-time head coach after serving in an interim role. The Kings also appointed a new general manager, Scott Perry.

Jonas Valaciunas expected to make shocking decision after Kings trade

The Kings remained active in the NBA Draft. They went into the draft not owning a first-round pick, but after a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder, they acquired the No. 24 pick and selected Nique Clifford out of Colorado State. In the second round at No. 42, they selected Stanford center Maxime Raynaud.

Raynaud has a playstyle similar to big man Domantas Sabonis, so it makes sense that the Kings would want his backup to play similarly. As a result, the Kings traded big man Jonas Valanciunas to the Denver Nuggets for Dario Saric, mostly to get off Valanciunas' salary. However, the Kings received shocking news Wednesday that will garner a decision from Valaciunas on his future.

"Jonas Valanciunas is close to leaving the NBA and joining Greece's Panathinaikos Athens, per BasketNews. Valanciunas was traded to the Nuggets just two days ago but has reportedly been lured by Panathinaikos' 3-year €12 million offer," read a post from ClutchPoints.