{"id":802978,"date":"2026-07-16T01:38:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T01:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/802978\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T01:38:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T01:38:08","slug":"jonas-valanciunas-is-finally-going-back-to-europe-after-nuggets-exit-denver-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/802978\/","title":{"rendered":"Jonas Valanciunas is finally going back to Europe after Nuggets exit \u2013 Denver Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jonas Valanciunas officially signed a two-year deal with EuroLeague club Zalgiris Kaunas on Wednesday, the Lithuanian team announced. Per BasketNews, the center is expected to earn approximately $5.5 million over the two-year deal.<\/p>\n

\u201cWARNING: the paint is CLOSED until further notice,\u201d Zalgiris posted on social media<\/a>. \u201cJonas Valanciunas is back in his homeland.\u201d<\/p>\n

WARNING: the paint is \ud835\udc02\ud835\udc0b\ud835\udc0e\ud835\udc12\ud835\udc04\ud835\udc03 until further notice.<\/p>\n

Jonas Valanciunas is back in his homeland. \ud83d\udd25\u26a1 pic.twitter.com\/oRSEcIcC6B<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 BC Zalgiris Kaunas (@bczalgiris) July 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Valanciunas, 34, started his professional career with Lietuvos Rytas \u2014 Zalgiris\u2019 biggest rival. Now he\u2019ll suit up for Kaunas. The move likely closes the book on his NBA career and starts a new chapter after a bizarre year in Denver.<\/p>\n

One week ago<\/a>, the Nuggets waived Valanciunas before his $10 million salary became fully guaranteed, opting to eat just $2 million of dead money instead. Denver saved roughly $8 million off the luxury-tax bill \u2014 tens of millions more once you factor in repeater-tax penalties \u2014 and replaced him with Marvin Bagley III on a minimum deal.<\/p>\n

Last offseason, the Nuggets and Valanciunas quietly amended the final year of his three-year deal \u2014 originally signed with Washington in the summer of 2025 \u2014 per Jake Fischer of The Stein Line. The adjustment moved the guarantee date on Valanciunas\u2019 $10 million salary for 2026-27 from June 29 to July 8, ostensibly giving Denver more flexibility to include his contract in an offseason trade rather than making a decision before free agency opened.<\/p>\n

To get Valanciunas to agree? Denver sweetened the pot: his salary would now pay a minimum of $2 million even if he was waived before the new guarantee date. Previously, his salary could have been reduced to zero if he was released by June 29.<\/p>\n

The Nuggets handed Valanciunas $2 million of guaranteed money he didn\u2019t previously have, not out of generosity, but so they could push the decision date past the start of free agency. And then they used that exact window to cut him anyway, saving roughly $8 million off the tax bill. The later guarantee date also meant Valanciunas couldn\u2019t become a free agent until after the league\u2019s annual moratorium, boxing him out of the first week of free agency while Denver ran the clock \u2014 which is why he likely asked for compensation.<\/p>\n

As Ryan Blackburn put it<\/a>: \u201cI need to know what Denver\u2019s process was in giving him an early $2 million partial guarantee for this offseason knowing that there would be a salary crunch.\u201d He added: \u201cCongrats on going back home. This was always a foregone conclusion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Denver restructured the guarantee knowing European interest was there, knowing the salary crunch was coming, and knowing they\u2019d almost certainly cut him. They engineered the exit a year in advance, and made themselves eat millions for no real reason.<\/p>\n

hen there was the Panathinaikos saga from last summer. Valanciunas reportedly tried to return to Europe a year ago, even arriving in Athens to complete a deal with the Greek powerhouse.<\/p>\n

The Nuggets refused to negotiate a buyout. They held him for a season, played him sparingly down the stretch, a spectator in a win-or-go-home Game 6 against Minnesota \u2014 then waived him for nothing anyway. When he did play any real minutes in that series, the Nuggets won both games.<\/p>\n

Valanciunas, the all-time leading NBA scorer among Lithuanian players, finishes his NBA career with averages of 12.8 points and 9.0 rebounds across 1,002 games with six franchises. He was the No. 5 pick in 2011, spent seven-plus seasons in Toronto, and earned a reputation as one of the most reliable traditional centers of his generation.<\/p>\n

Now, Denver\u2019s backup frontcourt will be a big question to start the 2026-27 season.<\/p>\n