The Sacramento Kings have made some interesting moves this offseason, but their plan could come crashing down.
Over the past few days, the Kings have looked to make some deals that push them back into the playoff picture in a tough Western Conference. Over the past two seasons, the Kings have made the play-in but have been unable to make the playoffs again since their breakthrough 2023 campaign.
While there are some potential limitations with a core of DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine and Domantas Sabonis, those three could be enough with the right pieces around them. The Kings’ most notable move thus far was agreeing to a deal with Dennis Schroder for three years and $45 million.
Of course, the Kings’ cap situation required them to make some other moves to accommodate Schroder’s arrival. So, in another deal, the Kings sent Jonas Valanciunas to the Denver Nuggets for Dario Saric.
Considering Saric is set to make over $5 million less than Valanciunas, the deal was a simple salary dump for Sacramento. However, that deal might be in jeopardy after Thursday.
Jonas Valanciunas is close to leaving the NBA for Panathinaikos despite recently signing with Denver Nuggets, reports @Urbodo
— BasketNews (@BasketNews_com) July 3, 2025
Contract details: https://t.co/QDMP4KDNzM pic.twitter.com/WZLdIAnHjV
According to a report from BasketNews on Thursday, Valanciunas could be looking at leaving the NBA to go back to Europe and sign a deal with Greek club Panathinaikos. Now, if the Kings and Nuggets deal was already done, this development would be a Nuggets problem.
However, Marc Stein noted that the trade can’t be finalized until Sunday, leaving the Kings with a potential major problem. If the Nuggets are no longer interested in the deal with Valanciunas’ desire to play in Europe, the Kings could be left in a tricky spot.
If Valanciunas was willing to work with Sacramento on a buyout, it would likely cause no problems, but as of now, the Kings are playing the waiting game with both Valanciunas and the Nuggets' front office.
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