It was a short stint in Denver for Jonas Valanciunas, and all signs are pointing to his tenure with the Nuggets coming to a close.
In a report from BasketNews, the veteran center is expected to sign with Euroleague squad Zalgiris Kaunas in Lithuania if he’s able to secure a release from the Nuggets.
The Lithuanian center has committed to a two-year deal with Zalgiris if he secures a release from his NBA contract with the Denver Nuggets.
If the Valanciunas deal materializes, Zalgiris will complete its roster for the season, with no further additions expected, BasketNews sources confirm.
Zalgiris set a deadline for the Lithuanian big man to make his decision by Monday (June 22) and has since received a positive response.
Valanciunas was acquired by the Nuggets in a trade for center Dario Saric, who played exactly five games and 41 minutes for the Sacramento Kings this past season. Valanciunas, in that sense, was a clear upgrade for Denver, appearing in 65 games while averaging 8.7 points, 5.1 rebounds, and shooting 58.2% from the field in 13.4 minutes per game. He gave the Nuggets production at the center spot behind Nikola Jokic, but mostly fell out of the playoff rotation by the end of the year.
Despite the production, the Nuggets are exceptionally unlikely to keep him with one year left on his contract for $10 million in 2026-27. With the Nuggets luxury tax bill estimated to be the third highest in the NBA at the current moment and Peyton Watson expected to command significant money, the Nuggets will attempt to find a way to cut costs. Valanciunas’ contract is the easiest way to make that happen.
It also sounds, according to the BasketNews report, that Valanciunas and Zalgiris Kaunas expect an NBA separation as the foregone conclusion rather than a possible outcome.
Zalgiris and Valanciunas expect that this process will be handled soon, clearing the way for his return to Lithuania after 14 years in the NBA.
Once his NBA departure is finalized, Valanciunas will officially join Zalgiris as one of the biggest signings in recent club history.
Denver tried to find another pathway toward making him a trade chip as a matching salary by amending his contract to include a $2 million partial guarantee and moving back the decision on the rest of his contract guarantee. Perhaps that still ends up being the path they choose, though any team doing due diligence on Valanciunas will know that he has committed to playing overseas if he can get out of his contract.
This should probably be considered a learning experience for the Nuggets front office. There was a reason why the Sacramento Kings were willing to trade Valanciunas for a backup center that they played five total games. They knew something like this was coming and were hoping to get out of the financial commitment.
The Nuggets squeezed one year out of Valanciunas in the NBA, and he was very clearly a professional about it; however, the emergence of this report emphasizes the revolving carousel nature of Denver’s bench.
Now, the Nuggets will likely choose to waive and stretch Valanciunas’ salary, only keeping the $2 million guarantee that they offered Valanciunas on the hook and spread out as a $666,667 commitment for 2026-27, 2027-28, and 2028-29. It’s a small price to pay, but every dollar counts for Denver, and they now have the same spot to fill in the rotation and even fewer ways to make a sustainable option happen.
With all that being said, I will wish Valanciunas well on his time in Lithuania if it does end up happening. Clearly, a move abroad is something he and his agency have thought about for a while, and it looks like that move will probably become reality over the next few weeks.