The Nuggets‘ trade sending Dario Saric to the Kings in exchange for Jonas Valanciunas is now official, according to a press release from Denver.
The trade agreement between the two teams was first reported on July 1. At the time, it seemed like a fairly straightforward deal — Denver was adding a reliable backup center behind Nikola Jokic, while Sacramento was reducing its team salary by swapping out Valanciunas’ $10.4MM salary for Saric’s $5.4MM expiring contract, allowing the Kings to stay out of tax territory while completing other moves.
However, it became more complicated within the past 12 days, as word broke that Valanciunas had a three-year contract offer on the table from the Greek team Panathinaikos that he wanted to accept.
While there has been no indication that the mutual interest between Valanciunas and Panathinaikos has waned, the Nuggets have reportedly told the 33-year-old and his camp that they want the big man the honor his contract. According to reports, Denver had maintained interest in Valanciunas in recent years and views him as a critical addition to its roster.
In order to sign with Panathinaikos, Valanciunas would have to negotiate a buyout with the Nuggets and get a FIBA letter of clearance — as long as he’s on an NBA contract, he can’t unilaterally decide to play in another league, without Denver’s cooperation. Now that the trade is official, he and the Nuggets can formally sit down and discuss next steps, but it sounds for now as if the plan is to have him in camp in Denver in the fall.
Valanciunas landed with the Wizards via sign-and-trade last summer, then was traded to the Kings in February. The durable center made 81 total appearances last season in Washington and Sacramento, averaging 10.4 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 18.8 minutes per contest.
Saric, meanwhile, couldn’t carve out a rotation role in Denver after signing with the team as a free agent in 2024. He made just 16 appearances, averaging 3.5 points and 3.1 rebounds in 13.1 minutes per night. It’s unclear whether the Kings intend to keep him on their roster entering next season — a return to Europe could be in the cards for the 6’10” forward/center if he reaches free agency.
Luke Adams contributed to this story.
Denver being greedy
Now the trades official I’m sure Denver and big Val will have legit buyout conversations. We want you to honour your contract. Keep your money, I want to go to Greece and back to Europe. Oh, OK. Guarantee big Val’s contract for next yr and I’m sure the conversation will be different. It’s what? $10 mil, big Val is definitely worth that. I mean you keep saying you really want him, prove it.
Why I’m still a kings fan beats me. We finally had a legit back up center and personally they should have tried Sabonis at 4 and JV at 5 more than the 15 minutes that 1 time… pretty sure the +\- was like +18 … sorry I know we’re not allowed to question Christie as a coach… honestly good for JV wherever he ends up, because if it wasn’t official before it is now. Worst franchise in the nba from top to bottom . I mean kings fans bash on monk now constantly! This fanbase is delusional
If JV leaves and takes no Nuggets money with him, they can offer Horford the full MLE, non-taxpayer, which would blow what the Warriors can pay him out of the water. Double it.