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

[Godymas]

You realy think you have a chance for suvarival in the USA? Russia has 5,459 Nuclear warheads, your best missile defense system stops half of them, so only 2730 Tzar bombs fall on USA. Great. You destroy them but you don't have time to celebrate.
Maybe some people in Bora-Bora could suvarive first wave but not for long. Or tsunami would destroy them too...

yes, i think my survival is highest in the country with the most sophisticated and well funded army in the world that managed to infiltrate Iran's air space a few weeks ago without notifying China or Russia

Did you stop all Iranian missiles? You will be able to stop all coming from China or Russia with big boms on them. Good luck.
I would rather be in Bora-Bora

Enjoy Bora-Bora and whatever you predict the nuclear war will be, I’ll take my odds in the country with the strongest military

[HotRocks34]

[quote="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.[/quote]





You signed the deal. You honor the deal.

At the very least, you talk to the team you're under contract with about what you're doing before doing it.

This was a garbage move from Val and the Greek team. Showed the Nuggets zero respect.

Totally unprofessional.

I don't like it at all. No matter if it was Val or an NBA team doing it.

[AleksandarN]

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.

If he wants to spend time with his family. He can retire or wait till the legally signed contract expires. For your first point it not poached from team if there are buyouts which the players negotiated in their contracts that allowed them to go to the NBA. There is no poaching because NBA teams can’t sign players under contract without those provisions.

Also as someone pointed out on a Nuggets discord channel


Every NBA player signs a standard UPC, which has an “Exclusivity Clause.” This clause says the player must not play basketball for any other team or league during the NBA contract term, without the team’s express written consent.
FIBA governs International Transfer Certificates (ITCs) for players moving between national federations. To legally play for a EuroLeague team, the player needs a ITC from USA Basketball (the NBA’s national federation) to the new country’s federation. If the player’s NBA team or federation objects, they won’t issue the ITC. Playing without an ITC is an automatic violation of FIBA rules. Playing without an ITC is an automatic violation of FIBA rules. Under the FIBA rules they would forfeit every game they play with that ineligible player.

[Ridicululz]

...Unless there's like a family illness or something...

This post reminded me of when Fisher used his daughter's condition to get out of his contract with Utah

I think he said he wanted out so he could sign with a team that's closer to doctor's where she was receiving treatment, but he ended up signing with the LAL.

[PushDaRock]

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.

He was pretty mobile early on in his career, but once he put the weight on he got a lot slower and couldn't jump as high either and he wasn't much of a leaper to begin with. Despite that, he has really good scoring touch at the rim and in the painted area, he really should have been someone that drew more fouls with how physical he plays too.

His passing was definitely something that stopped him from getting more post-ups. It wasn't because he was selfish, he just didn't have a good feel for handling double teams and was a slow processor of the game that led to a good amount of turnovers.

[basketballto]

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

Why would that matter? The fallout doesn't care.

[AleksandarN]

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

Why would that matter? The fallout doesn't care.

Yeah like Godymas would be invited to the nuclear bomb shelter

[magee]

What if Sacramento knew Valanciunas wanted to go back to Eurpoe and offered the trade to Denver? That would be more bush league than Panathinaikos and JV making this deal happen. If they were caught off guard by, then so be it and disregard this. Just felt the need to say it, because who knows these days what people may or may not know.

[DaPessimist]

Tough position for the Nuggets. I think they have to try and make him honor his contract, because otherwise they lose an asset for nothing. Sounds like Jonas can either play for the Nuggets, sit out for 2 years, or retire.

[perempe20]

he's my favorite player. his pump fake worked twice against Josh Smith in a game as he dunked on him. I bet Smith still has nightmares.

[SomeBunghole]

What if Sacramento knew Valanciunas wanted to go back to Eurpoe and offered the trade to Denver? That would be more bush league than Panathinaikos and JV making this deal happen. If they were caught off guard by, then so be it and disregard this. Just felt the need to say it, because who knows these days what people may or may not know.

I really don't think anyone would be that foolish. This sounds like the kind of stuff that would eventually leak if true and I'm not sure other GMs would be likely to wanna do business with a known bad-faith actor.

[Mirotic12]

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

Read on Twitter

That is pretty much the tamest, most calm, and nicest thing he's ever posted.

[azcatz11]

It has no impact at all. Some Europeans never truly enjoy living in the US, for example Rubio, Mirotic, even Jokic. Mind you Rubio had a bunch of other general issues just like Mirotic.

Once you're financially set, why not take full control over where you want to live. In addition, Valanciunas will have a bigger role in Europe. Of course, he could always play in Europe when he's old and injured, but that kinda sucks.

If Lessort is properly recovered from his bad leg injury, Valanciunas might also be the second center of Panathinaikos.

This is your wet dream isn’t it? When nba players still not completely washed go overseas

[Mirotic12]

This is your wet dream isn’t it? When nba players still not completely washed go overseas

Much better NBA players than Valanciunas have gone to play in Europe.

He wouldn't even make the top 10 of NBA players that did so.

He wouldn't even be the best one just to go to Panathinaikos.

[BigGargamel]

What if Sacramento knew Valanciunas wanted to go back to Eurpoe and offered the trade to Denver? That would be more bush league than Panathinaikos and JV making this deal happen. If they were caught off guard by, then so be it and disregard this. Just felt the need to say it, because who knows these days what people may or may not know.

I really don't think anyone would be that foolish. This sounds like the kind of stuff that would eventually leak if true and I'm not sure other GMs would be likely to wanna do business with a known bad-faith actor.

The only ONLY reason I don't complete dismiss this notion is that it's the Sacramento Kings. If anyone would dare pull anything like this, it would be the Kings.

[SNPA]

What if Sacramento knew Valanciunas wanted to go back to Eurpoe and offered the trade to Denver? That would be more bush league than Panathinaikos and JV making this deal happen. If they were caught off guard by, then so be it and disregard this. Just felt the need to say it, because who knows these days what people may or may not know.

I really don't think anyone would be that foolish. This sounds like the kind of stuff that would eventually leak if true and I'm not sure other GMs would be likely to wanna do business with a known bad-faith actor.

The only ONLY reason I don't complete dismiss this notion is that it's the Sacramento Kings. If anyone would dare pull anything like this, it would be the Kings.

Trash post.

Kings do dumb **** all the time. That’s not the same as bad faith actions. Perry’s been around the league a long time.

[Alatan]

...The best missile defense is Israel who can manage 90% for a tiny land area...

Someone was not paying attention to theatest developments. And there is no defense against the hypersonic glide missiles.

[KGtabake]

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.

In the NBA.
Panathinaikos is not in the NBA.
He will retire from the NBA giving up all the money in the contract and he will sign in Greece.
It's pretty simple actually.

[KGtabake]

Because said player will earn more money on his new team. Imagine if one NBA team offers money to player under contract, and he seeks buyout to sign more lucrative contract. It couldn't work, right.

I'm not against Valanciunas going for more money, and bigger contract, it is just he will have to pay for it (but we already aggred on trade so no adittional money needed )

He's not going for a bigger contract.
It's not about money.
He wants to play in the Euroleague, he wants to play in OAKA. He wants to be treated as a starting caliber player...and he is.

He signed a contract with another team. Not Denver. They traded him without asking him.
Like it happens in the 99% of transactions.
At some point someone, somewhere will go against this.
Players will have a say about their careers and their wishes. Because it's their lives.
I just think it will be funny if it happens by a non American player.
For the record...i think that Valanciunas will play for Panathinaikos because i think that the team will pay only because the president will be pissed off lol

Oh you brough tears to my eyes .
So, what is the offer? $1M? $1.5M?

Cmon bro. You know the offer.
Valanciunas has made over 150mil in his career.
If he gets 5 in the US after taxes and 4 in Greece, ot doesn't make any difference.

[Manimal]

Tough position for the Nuggets. I think they have to try and make him honor his contract, because otherwise they lose an asset for nothing. Sounds like Jonas can either play for the Nuggets, sit out for 2 years, or retire.

Either way Denver comes out ahead. Saric never played and was just dead money. Even if they buy out JV, it'll basically be like they were able to waive Saric for free. It would also open up almost the full MLE for them to use (not that there are really many guys left that are worth it).

Only downside is that they'd be back to needing a decent backup center. But they'd still be in a better situation than they were before making the trade.