Nuggets welcome Jonas Valanciunas as Kings trade becomes official

Veteran NBA big man Jonas Valanciunas is officially with the Denver Nuggets. The Lithuanian star was traded in the offseason by the Sacramento Kings to Denver in a one-on-one swap with forward Dario Saric.

The Nuggets have also welcomed Valanciunas to the team with a special post on social media.

“Welcome to Denver, Jonas!” read the post that also comes with a snow-capped mountain emoji and a graphic of Valanciunas in a Nuggets uniform.

The trade came through amid reports that Valanciunas is being pursued by the Greek basketball club Panathinaikos. That desire by Panathinaikos to get Valanciunas faces a major hurdle. After all, Valanciunas still has a live contract in the NBA, having signed a three-year contract worth $30.3 million with the New Orleans Pelicans as part of a sign-and-trade transaction with the Washington Wizards back in the summer of 2024.

As it stands, Valanciunas, who turned 33 years old last May, still has two more years left on his current deal. He has a cap hit of $10.395 million in the 2025-26 season and $10 million in the 2026-27 campaign before becoming a free agent in the summer of 2027-28.

It is also still possible for Valanciunas to ask for a release from the Nuggets if he truly wants to take his talents to Europe rather than play a major backup role behind three-time NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic. As long as Jokic is healthy, Valanciunas will not be the featured center on a Nuggets team that won 50 games last season.

Still, Valanciunas can be considered a notable upgrade over DeAndre Jordan, who was a Jokic backup in the previous three seasons. He played a total of 81 games for the Wizards and the Kings last season, averaging 10.4 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists while shooting 55.0 percent from the field.

Aside from the money he stands to earn over the next two NBA seasons, another major selling point for Valanciunas to honor his contract and stay in the league is the possibility of winning a ring. The Nuggets won an NBA title in 2023 and remain viewed as a serious contender for the Larry O’Brien Trophy so long as they have Jokic on the team.