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

[BelgradeNugget]

I don't see a problem here. If he wants to go to Panathinaikos to play there he can, the path is clear. He must agree on a buyout with the team he has contract with - Denver (if trade goes through).

Which is exactly what he's trying to do. Per the latest reports, Denver doesn't seem willing to negotiate a buyout with him.

Why did you cut the rest of my post? I still didn't hear how much he offered for contract terimnation to Denver.
For instance Houston payed $400,000M to Panathinaikos for contract buyout, for right to sign Spanoulis 20 years ago. What is the price Val/Panathinaikos should pay to Denver? $2M?

[Nuntius]

I don't see a problem here. If he wants to go to Panathinaikos to play there he can, the path is clear. He must agree on a buyout with the team he has contract with - Denver (if trade goes through).

Which is exactly what he's trying to do. Per the latest reports, Denver doesn't seem willing to negotiate a buyout with him.

Why did you cut the rest of my post?

Because I wanted to comment on the buyout, in particular. The rest of your post was about a hypothetical trade and I have no real position on that. I only have a positio on the buyout.

I still didn't hear how much he offered for contract terimnation to Denver.
For instance Houston payed $400,000M to Panathinaikos for contract buyout for right to sign Spanoulis 20 years ago. What is the price he should pay to Denver? $2M?

Based on what I've heard, he's willing to forfeit his contract.

[SomeBunghole]

This is not only NBA thing.

Exactly. This isn't an NBA or a Euroleague thing. This is a FIBA thing. Any league affiliated with FIBA(so every pro league in the world) operates on these principles. You cannot sign a player under contract with another team in an affiliated league without that team'a permission to break the contract. In other words, without a transfer fee. FIFA also works that way, as do IHF, FINA, and others.

[BelgradeNugget]

Which is exactly what he's trying to do. Per the latest reports, Denver doesn't seem willing to negotiate a buyout with him.

Why did you cut the rest of my post?

Because I wanted to comment on the buyout, in particular. The rest of your post was about a hypothetical trade and I have no real position on that. I only have a positio on the buyout.

I still didn't hear how much he offered for contract terimnation to Denver.
For instance Houston payed $400,000M to Panathinaikos for contract buyout for right to sign Spanoulis 20 years ago. What is the price he should pay to Denver? $2M?

Based on what I've heard, he's willing to forfeit his contract.

OK you answer on my first post. It is not about his wilingnes to forfeit his contract, it is a thing he should do without asking, it is about buyout he/Panathinaikos must offer to the Nuggets. It would have been fair offer.

[BigGargamel]

This is not only NBA thing.

Exactly. This isn't an NBA or a Euroleague thing. This is a FIBA thing. Any league affiliated with FIBA(so every pro league in the world) operates on these principles. You cannot sign a player under contract with another team in an affiliated league without that team'a permission to break the contract. In other words, without a transfer fee. FIFA also works that way, as do IHF, FINA, and others.

Thanks for this break down. I was wondering why Val couldn't just leave for another league thousands of miles away if he wanted to. Some of us Americans don't understand how the rest of the sports world works.

[Nuntius]

Why did you cut the rest of my post?

Because I wanted to comment on the buyout, in particular. The rest of your post was about a hypothetical trade and I have no real position on that. I only have a positio on the buyout.

I still didn't hear how much he offered for contract terimnation to Denver.
For instance Houston payed $400,000M to Panathinaikos for contract buyout for right to sign Spanoulis 20 years ago. What is the price he should pay to Denver? $2M?

Based on what I've heard, he's willing to forfeit his contract.

OK you answer on my first post. It is not about his wilingnes to forfeit his contract it is about buyout he/Panathinaikos must offer to the Nuggets. It would have been fair offer.

But, again, what you're saying doesn't really match the information that we have at the moment.

Here's what has been posted in the last few pages of this thread:

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

When you say that you do not intend to negotiate a buyout and that you intend to have a player honor his contract, then what you're saying is that it's NOT about receiving a fair offer from Panathinaikos to let Valanciunas go. You, quite simply, do not intend to let him go. Period. That's what the Nuggets are saying and we have to believe them.

[HotRocks34]

Not sure if this is real but just passing it along.

Read on Twitter

[BelgradeNugget]

Because I wanted to comment on the buyout, in particular. The rest of your post was about a hypothetical trade and I have no real position on that. I only have a positio on the buyout.



Based on what I've heard, he's willing to forfeit his contract.

OK you answer on my first post. It is not about his wilingnes to forfeit his contract it is about buyout he/Panathinaikos must offer to the Nuggets. It would have been fair offer.

But, again, what you're saying doesn't really match the information that we have at the moment.

Here's what has been posted in the last few pages of this thread:

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

When you say that you do not intend to negotiate a buyout and that you intend to have a player honor his contract, then what you're saying is that it's NOT about receiving a fair offer from Panathinaikos to let Valanciunas go. You, quite simply, do not intend to let him go. Period. That's what the Nuggets are saying and we have to believe them.

That is what is coming out. There were reports he was using Panathinaikos to force Denver to guarantee his 2nd year.
Anyway my point is simple if he wants to sign for Panathenaikos he should pay to Denver if they agree of course on amount, or idea.

[BelgradeNugget]

Not sure if this is real but just passing it along.

Read on Twitter

Now Nuggets must let him go and pay all of his contract.
No other way

[FrobeBryant]

Nuggets essentially holding him hostage is not a good look

[BelgradeNugget]

Nuggets essentially holding him hostage is not a good look

Why? It is not like Luka situation when Nico and Pelinka made grown man cry

[cupcakesnake]

Valanciunas had been a starter his whole career (827 out 856 games) until last year, when Washington- the worst team Val has ever played for- asked him to come off the bench so that they could start their prized draft pick. Must have been real fun for Jonas to watch Sarr brick threes and baby hooks all night.

Then he gets a trade, but it's to another bench role, this time backing up Domantas Sabonis, the guy he's consistently been better than on the Lituania national team his whole life. I'm not saying there's bad blood there at all, I'm just painting a possible picture where Valanciunas doesn't like the NBA opportunities that are coming his way. Getting traded again, to backup a Euro rival he's battled against for years could feel like another nail in the coffin.

Remember that Val was by far the biggest prospect of any of these Euro guys. He was a top 5 pick that was discussed going as high as top 2, if not for his contract situation. He's had a very good NBA career, but not lived up to expectations. I remember him getting compared to Tim Duncan and prime Tyson Chandler (right after Chandler helped Dirk to a championship). I could Val watching his NBA career dwindle and find Europe a more attractive option.

I think he would have had a much better career if this was the early 2000's. Still, he should have been more effective as an offensive player, he has good shooting touch and form but the slowest release ever that just never got quicker which greatly limited his effectiveness as a stretch big.

I think he was still tremendously effective as an offensive piece. He puts so much pressure on the rim with his post ups, rolls, and offensive rebounding. He's been measurably helping offenses his whole career. I think there was more than shooting that held him back from being an all-star. His passing was only so so, meaning that rim pressure was something teams could solve with extra help if they needed to, and Val wouldn't punish them enough. He's always been fairly turnover prone when you make him pass. Then his lack of verticality limited him a bit as a roll man. He is SUCH a good screener, and has always been great at rolling hard to the rim, but he lost his hops really early on and that made him less of a lob threat. If he'd been able to catch more lobs, Kyle Lowry would have had him averaging 20, easy.

There's of course his defense too. He's always been a bit below average in space, and again, not vertical enough.

[HotRocks34]

Nuggets essentially holding him hostage is not a good look

It's actually the other way around.

Val's under contract and went behind Denver's back to try to negotiate a deal before the trade went through, apparently without talking to Denver first.

Awful look for Val and the Greek team. Super unprofessional and bush league.

You ruined Denver's free agency (if you leave) and went to negotiate behind their back while still on a deal without talking to them about it?

If it's me, there's no way on earth I'm letting him go to Greece now. Just on principle. Unless there's like a family illness or something.

You let one person punk you and you're inviting a second incident. Denver can't do that.

[Nuntius]

OK you answer on my first post. It is not about his wilingnes to forfeit his contract it is about buyout he/Panathinaikos must offer to the Nuggets. It would have been fair offer.

But, again, what you're saying doesn't really match the information that we have at the moment.

Here's what has been posted in the last few pages of this thread:

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

When you say that you do not intend to negotiate a buyout and that you intend to have a player honor his contract, then what you're saying is that it's NOT about receiving a fair offer from Panathinaikos to let Valanciunas go. You, quite simply, do not intend to let him go. Period. That's what the Nuggets are saying and we have to believe them.

That is what is coming out. There were reports he was using Panathinaikos to force Denver to guarantee his 2nd year.
Anyway my point is simple if he wants to sign for Panathenaikos he should pay to Denver if they agree of course on amount, or idea.

If you want to dispute what is coming out then be my guest. It's definitely your right.

But as someone who doesn't have an inside scoop on the situation, I can only rely on what is being said. And what's being said is that Valanciunas is willing to forfeit his salary to get away from the US and the Denver aren't willing to negotiate a buyout with him.

[basketballto]

would you rather be dead or alive

which country has the highest odds for survival

also which country has the best missile defense system

i'd rather be in a underground bunker alive eating can beans and filtering my urine for water than evaporated

Really? What the point in that? The hope that in like a decade you might leave your bunker to a world that has to starts from scratch?

if you’d rather die in nuclear war then say it. i’d rather not

The safest countries are New Zealand, Greenland, Chile.

The best missile defense is Israel who can manage 90% for a tiny land area. Missile defense won't save you. Maybe the iron dome project will change that but not anytime soon.

Unless you are part of a shadow government or have an underground bucker to hide in until you die you are not going to make it through.

[AleksandarN]

We'll get him one way or another lol
He didn't sign the contract for the Nuggets, he was traded there without anyone asking him.
He has the right to choose where he wants to play, it's his life.
He won't pay anything, he will just underperform intentionally if they keep him so he will be bought out later this season

He has no rights

He is under contract

He needs them to allow him out .

Everything your wrote was nonsense.

The Nuggets can stop him if they want to.

They could hold him until they get tired. He legally cannot get out without their consent.

That alone is enough.
Read what you wrote again and give it a good thought.
He has no rights? Who are you to say something like this?
The contract wasn't signed with Denver either you like it, either you don't.
European basketball doesn't work like the NBA (thank god). Players actually have rights.
You don't have a clue what a player can do if he's unhappy. If Denver wants to keep a player against his will, good luck with the season. You are going to need it.

He has no rights to playing professional basketball other than the league in which he signed a contract(the NBA). No one forced him to sign that contract. No one. He alone forfeited his rights to play for any other team than the ones who hold his rights when he signed that contract.

[AleksandarN]

trades should be gone from the nba. like they don't exist in any other serious basketball league. sign a player to how ever many years you want and honor your decision. despite players getting ridicolous money nowdays, there is something slavery about the nba

Stop it there is no Slavery in the NBA. That is the dumbest thing written on this board in a long time. NBA players are the highest paid basketball players in the world.

[BelgradeNugget]

But, again, what you're saying doesn't really match the information that we have at the moment.

Here's what has been posted in the last few pages of this thread:

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

When you say that you do not intend to negotiate a buyout and that you intend to have a player honor his contract, then what you're saying is that it's NOT about receiving a fair offer from Panathinaikos to let Valanciunas go. You, quite simply, do not intend to let him go. Period. That's what the Nuggets are saying and we have to believe them.

That is what is coming out. There were reports he was using Panathinaikos to force Denver to guarantee his 2nd year.
Anyway my point is simple if he wants to sign for Panathenaikos he should pay to Denver if they agree of course on amount, or idea.

If you want to dispute what is coming out then be my guest. It's definitely your right.

But as someone who doesn't have an inside scoop on the situation, I can only rely on what is being said. And what's being said is that Valanciunas is willing to forfeit his salary to get away from the US and the Denver aren't willing to negotiate a buyout with him.

I'm not disputing twits you posted, I just heard other options from DNVR and Locked on Nuggets.
But you still didn't undrestand what I was saying. It is not about forfeit his salary it is about him/Panathinaikos paying transfer fee to Denver. They should have aproched Denver with transfer fee before this going out. He could have aproached Sacramento with his willingnes to forfeit his contract all summer, if that was a case.
But Panathinaikos aproaced player under contract, started negotiaitons without aproval of team who recived his rights throuhg trade, and now he wants to leave for more money. In the middle of a trade. Yes, right. They sholud pay Denver.

[Godymas]

Really? What the point in that? The hope that in like a decade you might leave your bunker to a world that has to starts from scratch?

if you’d rather die in nuclear war then say it. i’d rather not

The safest countries are New Zealand, Greenland, Chile.

The best missile defense is Israel who can manage 90% for a tiny land area. Missile defense won't save you. Maybe the iron dome project will change that but not anytime soon.

Unless you are part of a shadow government or have an underground bucker to hide in until you die you are not going to make it through.

You don’t know where in America I live

[Nuntius]

Awful look for Val and the Greek team. Super unprofessional and bush league.

I hate Panathinaikos but I cannot agree with this take at all. Two main reasons why:

1) NBA teams poach players from European teams all the damn time. Why is it any different now that it's happening the other way around?

2) Valanciunas wants to be close to his family. He has two school-age sons and he has changed 3 teams in the past calendrar year (Washington to Sacramento and now Denver). Wanna know how many teams he changed before this past year? 3 teams in 12 years. That's a pretty big difference, isn't it? In his previous stops, he stayed there for multiple years, bought a home in the area and he was able to be with his family. He hasn't been able to do that in this past season. He cannot expect his family to uproot their lives every 4 months (again, his kids are in school) and he cannot really visit them during the NBA season either (especially when we're talking distances like Sacramento to Washington or Tennessee).

Signing a long-term deal with Panathinaikos solves that problem for him. His family can choose to stay with him in Greece (since it's a multi-year deal and he's not going to get traded) but even if they choose to return to their native Lithuania, it's only a 3 hour flight. That's much closer than flying across the entire US to get from Sacramento to Washington.

At the end of the day, I simply cannot blame anyone for wanting to be near their family.