Shams: Kings Trade Jonas Valunciunas to the Nuggets for Dario Saric; *UPDATE* - Trade is Now Official

[One Last Shot]

Totally agree. Which is why I hope the trade still goes through. I assume his contract would come off the Nuggets books and allow them to sign someone else? I dunno if that's true or not, but he's either with Denver or they can sign someone else who's still an upgrade over Saric. No real downside.

That's not how it works, it's either Saric won't get traded or Jonas will have to forfeit his guaranteed money if he decided to play back in overseas but the cap hit of his salary will always be there in Nuggets cap space regardless.

Thanks for clearing that up. I assumed correctly I was too stupid to know what the outcome would be.

It's not good if it's true, I have high hopes for the Nuggets having a Finals run(still do even without Jonas) next season but I don't see Valunciunas giving up his guaranteed money just to go back overseas so we just have to wait and see.

[JujitsuFlip]

I'd just back out of the trade, if i were the Nuggets, let the Kings sort it out.

I think the Nuggets would like to get Dario Saric’s contract off the books so they can get a viable backup for Jokic. They want the trade to go through whether Valanciunas opts to stay in the NBA or not.

I get it, just sucks, he woulda been an awesome back-up for Joker.

[LuDux1]

Rescind the trade and go after Al Horford. Better fit anyway and way less diva mentality.

Diva mentality? From my understanding JV was an absolute professional and even a great vet/locker room guy while being on the bench for the Wizards of all teams. All the while he was in trade rumours and on the block until the Kings deal. The Wiz kids often said to the media that they were enjoying their time even while losing most of their games.

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[Sixers in 4]

Totally agree. Which is why I hope the trade still goes through. I assume his contract would come off the Nuggets books and allow them to sign someone else? I dunno if that's true or not, but he's either with Denver or they can sign someone else who's still an upgrade over Saric. No real downside.

That's not how it works, it's either Saric won't get traded or Jonas will have to forfeit his guaranteed money if he decided to play back in overseas but the cap hit of his salary will always be there in Nuggets cap space regardless.

Thanks for clearing that up. I assumed correctly I was too stupid to know what the outcome would be.

That is not my understanding at all.

Typically, a salary cap is dollar for dollar. If a player agrees to forgo future earnings, it is taken off the cap. JV's entire salary will be deducted from the Nuggets cap if, following the trade, he consents to a zero buyout.

Edit: I googled it and it was confirmed by other sources the other poster doesn't know what he is talking about

[davidv2001]

I'd just back out of the trade, if i were the Nuggets, let the Kings sort it out.

I think the Nuggets would like to get Dario Saric’s contract off the books so they can get a viable backup for Jokic. They want the trade to go through whether Valanciunas opts to stay in the NBA or not.

I get it, just sucks, he woulda been an awesome back-up for Joker.

If Valanciunas leaves for Greece it sucks, but he has to walk away from $10 million guaranteed dollars to do so. This could be a tactic to get Denver to guarantee the third and final year of his current contract.

Regardless, even if the Nuggets are stuck with a dead cap hit on Valanciunas, nobody else was going to take Saric’s deal from them without draft-pick compensation. The Kings did them a favor.

[LeBronSpaghetti]

Apparently the trade is a done deal either way

[Alatan]

I think the Nuggets would like to get Dario Saric’s contract off the books so they can get a viable backup for Jokic. They want the trade to go through whether Valanciunas opts to stay in the NBA or not.

I get it, just sucks, he woulda been an awesome back-up for Joker.

If Valanciunas leaves for Greece it sucks, but he has to walk away from $10 million guaranteed dollars to do so. This could be a tactic to get Denver to guarantee the third and final year of his current contract.

Regardless, even if the Nuggets are stuck with a dead cap hit on Valanciunas, nobody else was going to take Saric’s deal from them without draft-pick compensation. The Kings did them a favor.

Id rather have Sarics cap hit of 5 million for 1 season than Vals 10 million for 2 or 3 seasons.

[Coach Carter]

He's not leaving a recent champ. C'mon.

Funny enough Panathinaikos are also recent champs.

Not this year, though

Last year, followed up by final 4 this year is pretty good.

[Sixers in 4]

I get it, just sucks, he woulda been an awesome back-up for Joker.

If Valanciunas leaves for Greece it sucks, but he has to walk away from $10 million guaranteed dollars to do so. This could be a tactic to get Denver to guarantee the third and final year of his current contract.

Regardless, even if the Nuggets are stuck with a dead cap hit on Valanciunas, nobody else was going to take Saric’s deal from them without draft-pick compensation. The Kings did them a favor.

Id rather have Sarics cap hit of 5 million for 1 season than Vals 10 million for 2 or 3 seasons.

There is no cap hit if he agrees to zero buyout.

I'd rather have Saric off the books than pay him 5million

[davidv2001]

I get it, just sucks, he woulda been an awesome back-up for Joker.

If Valanciunas leaves for Greece it sucks, but he has to walk away from $10 million guaranteed dollars to do so. This could be a tactic to get Denver to guarantee the third and final year of his current contract.

Regardless, even if the Nuggets are stuck with a dead cap hit on Valanciunas, nobody else was going to take Saric’s deal from them without draft-pick compensation. The Kings did them a favor.

Id rather have Sarics cap hit of 5 million for 1 season than Vals 10 million for 2 or 3 seasons.

I entirely disagree. Valanciunas has two years remaining on his existing contract at 10M per season, with only 2025-2026 guaranteed. He’s also a useful and competent NBA player making a reasonable salary. His contract would be easily movable, even if his 2026-2027 salary is guaranteed. Saric nay be cheaper, but he isn’t playable.

Not only that, the Nuggets are in the apron, so saving that five million this season isn’t going to give them money to sign a center in free agency.

Denver is trying to win a second championship with Jokic, saving five million with Saric runs counter to that goal and is the kind of stuff that got Calvin Booth fired.

[Dr Aki]

Wait, does this mean he's quitting on the Nuggets?

[Nuntius]

Funny enough Panathinaikos are also recent champs.

Not this year, though

Last year, followed up by final 4 this year is pretty good.

I know. And this year should be our turn but we lost to Monaco and finished 3rd.

[JujitsuFlip]

I think the Nuggets would like to get Dario Saric’s contract off the books so they can get a viable backup for Jokic. They want the trade to go through whether Valanciunas opts to stay in the NBA or not.

I get it, just sucks, he woulda been an awesome back-up for Joker.

If Valanciunas leaves for Greece it sucks, but he has to walk away from $10 million guaranteed dollars to do so. This could be a tactic to get Denver to guarantee the third and final year of his current contract.

Regardless, even if the Nuggets are stuck with a dead cap hit on Valanciunas, nobody else was going to take Saric’s deal from them without draft-pick compensation. The Kings did them a favor.

Saric is a $5 million expiring, isn't he? That is a cheap deal.

[MakeItSplash]

Wait, does this mean he's quitting on the Nuggets?

Quitting as in refusing to play? He can't leave as he is still under contract. He needs either a buy-out or waived. FIBA will ask for a Letter of Clearance in order to play elsewhere.

A similar situation happened with Sasha Vezenkov, who was waived by the Raptors.

https://www.spotrac.com/news/_/id/2381/understanding-the-sasha-vezenkov-situation

Why does he have to honor that NBA contract? Olympiacos isn’t an NBA team.

In professional basketball, clubs who fall under the jurisdiction of FIBA have a thing called a “Letter of Clearance”. This letter is essentially what frees a player up to sign with a new team.

In order to receive this Letter of Clearance to sign with Olympiacos, Vezenkov will have to prove he has fulfilled his contract with the Toronto Raptors. Simply walking away doesn’t fulfill that obligation.

So, what exactly are Sasha Vezenkov’s options here?

Work a straight waiver with the Toronto Raptors, upon which Toronto would eat $6.6 million in dead money on their cap sheet. If Vezenkov clears waivers, he could then be a free agent. If he was claimed off waivers, his contract would move in full to the new NBA team.

Work a buyout with the Toronto Raptors. In this scenario, Vezenkov would give back some or all of his $6.6 million contract for the 2024-25 season to become a free agent. He would still need to clear waivers upon a buyout, as listed above.

[Mirotic12]

Nobody is making that kind of money in Europe now, top earners are in the 2-3 M range. Maybe the Dubai team wants to make a Splash signing.

Sasha Vezenkov and Kendrick Nunn are making 4.5 million net euros a season. And numerous players have made 5 million net, or even more, in the past.

Nikola Mirotic was making 6 million euros net just in recent seasons.

Vasa Micic was already offered 6 million euros net euros this offseason.

By numerous you mean 3?. Only Childress and Delfino back in the day and Mirotic when he joined Barcelona made 5+.
Maybe Kirilenko also but i cant recall.

Radja
Kukoc
Sabonis
Kirilenko twice.
Delfino
Childress
D. Williams
Mirotic

Durant, Micic and Petrovic also received such offers.

[Mirotic12]

Sasha Vezenkov and Kendrick Nunn are making 4.5 million net euros a season. And numerous players have made 5 million net, or even more, in the past.

Nikola Mirotic was making 6 million euros net just in recent seasons.

Vasa Micic was already offered 6 million euros net euros this offseason.

By numerous you mean 3?. Only Childress and Delfino back in the day and Mirotic when he joined Barcelona made 5+.
Maybe Kirilenko also but i cant recall.

If you go back in time Dominique Wilkins had signed for Panathinaikos in 1995 for 3,5mil.
In today's money i guess that's a lot more.
He was granted a 4 store villa of his choosing, 2 cars and all taxes paid by the team.

Teams like CSKA Moscow, Panathinaikos, Fenerbahce, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Olympiacos can offer big contracts and offer amenities of that kind. There's also no salary cap in Europe.

According to the first inflation calculator that popped up on Google, that would be equal to $7.2 million net income in 2024.

[davidv2001]

I get it, just sucks, he woulda been an awesome back-up for Joker.

If Valanciunas leaves for Greece it sucks, but he has to walk away from $10 million guaranteed dollars to do so. This could be a tactic to get Denver to guarantee the third and final year of his current contract.

Regardless, even if the Nuggets are stuck with a dead cap hit on Valanciunas, nobody else was going to take Saric’s deal from them without draft-pick compensation. The Kings did them a favor.

Saric is a $5 million expiring, isn't he? That is a cheap deal.

It’s cheap but it’s also five million more than he should be making. The Nuggets would have to add other assets with him for most teams to take him, even at a relatively minor salary.

That’s why it was surprising the Kings agreed to swap Valanciunas for him straight up.

[Jordan45822]

https://leaguealertsofficial.com/nba/jonas-valanciunas-exit-nba-for-lucrative-european-deal/

He is officially committed to go to Greece and willing to give back his full salary.

[falcolombardi]

So what happens with nuggets and sacramento then?

[Jordan45822]

So what happens with nuggets and sacramento then?

Trade still happens and Nuggets buyout his contract