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

[djsunyc]

jonas needs to shed like 20+ lbs. he's beefed up a bit the past few years.

[remiga007]

Hartenstein

He was not good in Denver. Foul prone, I recall some attitude issues, nothing special. He got better a year or so after leaving, of course, but he was not good in Denver.

Regarding JV being unplayable in the playoffs, he just needs to be a +/-0 in 10-12 minutes and it'll all be fine.

Comparation:

DeAndre Jordan netrtg

24/25 -3.3
23/24 -10.7
22/23 -8.4
21/22 -10.8
20/21 -1.9

those are his netrtg numbers playing for good teams Den, Philly, LAL, Bkn where players usually have better netrtg, because teams are winning minutes on average

Jonas Valanciunas netrtg

24/25 -9.6 (tot)
23/24 +3.9
22/23 -0.7
21/22 +1.2
20/21 +3.8

those are his netrtg numbers playing for bad teams Sac, Wash, NOP.
Netrtg of -9.6 in 24/25 can be splitted

24/25 Washington - 16
24/25 Sacramento + 2.6

Just to compare Sacramento players

Keon Ellis +3.0
Domantas Sabonis +2.6
Jonas Valančiūnas +2.6
Malik Monk +2.5
DeMar DeRozan +1.5
Keegan Murray +1.5
De'Aaron Fox +0.9
Kevin Huerter -3.6
Zach LaVine -3.8
Jake LaRavia -7.1

so maybe Valanciunas is not so unplayable after all

Thank you sir. I'm always too lazy to post comparisons like these, as there are certain posters here who will be bumbling "unplayable, slow, stiff, obsolete, unplayable yada yada yada" no matter how many facts will get in their way.

Also, it's been quite clear that Val has become more of a "winning" player in second half of his career.

[Sharkboy242]

Our backup center is better than Deandre Ayton

Championship loading

[BelgradeNugget]

He was not good in Denver. Foul prone, I recall some attitude issues, nothing special. He got better a year or so after leaving, of course, but he was not good in Denver.

Regarding JV being unplayable in the playoffs, he just needs to be a +/-0 in 10-12 minutes and it'll all be fine.

Comparation:

DeAndre Jordan netrtg

24/25 -3.3
23/24 -10.7
22/23 -8.4
21/22 -10.8
20/21 -1.9

those are his netrtg numbers playing for good teams Den, Philly, LAL, Bkn where players usually have better netrtg, because teams are winning minutes on average

Jonas Valanciunas netrtg

24/25 -9.6 (tot)
23/24 +3.9
22/23 -0.7
21/22 +1.2
20/21 +3.8

those are his netrtg numbers playing for bad teams Sac, Wash, NOP.
Netrtg of -9.6 in 24/25 can be splitted

24/25 Washington - 16
24/25 Sacramento + 2.6

Just to compare Sacramento players

Keon Ellis +3.0
Domantas Sabonis +2.6
Jonas Valančiūnas +2.6
Malik Monk +2.5
DeMar DeRozan +1.5
Keegan Murray +1.5
De'Aaron Fox +0.9
Kevin Huerter -3.6
Zach LaVine -3.8
Jake LaRavia -7.1

so maybe Valanciunas is not so unplayable after all

Thank you sir. I'm always too lazy to post comparisons like these, as there are certain posters here who will be bumbling "unplayable, slow, stiff, obsolete, unplayable yada yada yada" no matter how many facts will get in their way.

Also, it's been quite clear that Val has become more of a "winning" player in second half of his career.

Here are some more interesting facts. People are mentioning Valanciunas, Brown, THJ, Watson, Strawther, Holmes as Nuggets bench. I don't expect anything from Holmes this season (probobly majority of time in g-league). Everybody's forgetting about Nnaji, and I think he could be key Nuggets player of the bench with Val. I think they comliment each other perfectly.

Offense

Valanciunas

pnr scorrer - very good
pnr decision maker - very good
catch and shoot 3 - not so good
back door cuts - not so good
offensive reb - great

Nnaji

pnr scorrer - terrible
pnr decision maker - terrible
catch and shoot 3 - very good
back door cuts - very good
offensive reb - very good


Defense

Valanciunas

def in space - terrible
swichability - terrible
rim defense - not so good
steals - not so good
def rebounding - great

Nnaji

def in space - very good
swichability - very good
rim defense - very good
steals - very good
def rebounding - terrible

Numbers from EPM, percentage in the league (higher number, better)

Valanciunas DR% 99 OR% 96 BLK% 78, DEF% 1
Nnaji DR% 14, OR% 66, BLK% 95, STL% 73, DEF% 81

This could work really good for both

[Alatan]

[quote="BelgradeNugget"][/quote]

I dont know what Nnaji have you been watching but the one on the Nuggets is always lost. Dude is the PF version of Ayton with worse touch and a better motor.

[SpurNani]

jonas needs to shed like 20+ lbs. he's beefed up a bit the past few years.

Will be interesting to see where his head is at after Denver denied him an opportunity to make great money, have more security, play a bigger role and play closer to home/family.

He's been a lard for a few season's now, i wouldn't be surprised if he was even more unmotivated.

[BelgradeNugget]

I dont know what Nnaji have you been watching but the one on the Nuggets is always lost. Dude is the PF version of Ayton with worse touch and a better motor.

I have watched Nnaji that was put in pnr as roller and decision maker, and he is terrible used that way. I have seen Nnaji as center defensively with Watson as PF. Both great defenders, blockers, rim protectors and terrible rebounders. I have watched them force miss, give rebound, force miss, give rebound, give points.

I saw him in February playing as PF with Jokic averaging 7/3.8/0.6 with 1.5 blk shooting 59/43/64 in 20 minutes, mostly through catch and shoot, cuts and offensive rebounds, before Malone decided to play him as C again where he was terrible. During that month when Malone was playing him to his strenghts he had netrtg of +19.4, compared to -1.6 for the season.

Oh did I mentioned he had the best defrtg of all Nuggets players, and he is listed as the best Nugget defender in EPM DEF RTG.
More questions?

[BelgradeNugget]

jonas needs to shed like 20+ lbs. he's beefed up a bit the past few years.

Will be interesting to see where his head is at after Denver denied him an opportunity to make great money, have more security, play a bigger role and play closer to home/family.

He's been a lard for a few season's now, i wouldn't be surprised if he was even more unmotivated.

You're right I heard he had clausula in his contract that said

"If player wants to go to different place to play during the lenght of this contract, closer to home, with beutifull beaches, and if he can potentionaly make more money that way, team is obligate to pay his salary and let him go. Especially if it will make his wife happy"

Nuggets are terrorists, Jokic is Osama Bin Laden, right

[Alatan]

I dont know what Nnaji have you been watching but the one on the Nuggets is always lost. Dude is the PF version of Ayton with worse touch and a better motor.

I have watched Nnaji that was put in pnr as roller and decision maker, and he is terrible used that way. I have seen Nnaji as center defensively with Watson as PF. Both great defenders, blockers, rim protectors and terrible rebounders. I have watched them force miss, give rebound, force miss, give rebound, give points.

I saw him in February playing as PF with Jokic averaging 7/3.8/0.6 with 1.5 blk shooting 59/43/64 in 20 minutes, mostly through catch and shoot, cuts and offensive rebounds, before Malone decided to play him as C again where he was terrible. During that month when Malone was playing him to his strenghts he had netrtg of +19.4, compared to -1.6 for the season.

Oh did I mentioned he had the best defrtg of all Nuggets players, and he is listed as the best Nugget defender in EPM DEF RTG.
More questions?

Dude played against third stringers in blowout games. I dont care about his advanced stats. Nnaji has bad game awareness witch leads to him often being out of position on defense. He has the tools to be a good defender but he is always half a second slow. And he is not a good shooter. He can hit an open three but when things get serious he clanks. His free throw % is also ass witch is the best indicator of shooting ability. He is also terrible at finishing at the rim.

All in all he is crap offensively and gets lost defensively even as he has tools to be a switchable PF.
Nnaji is cooked and Denver should package him with Strawther to get someone playable.

[HotRocks34]

Read on Twitter

[Exp0sed]

https://www.eurohoops.net/en/nba-news/1846585/jonas-valanciunas-denver-nuggets-nba-panathinaikos

According to Vic Lombardi, the franchise and the experienced player have agreed on staying together, as Jonas Valanciunas’ second season with Denver will be guaranteed.

So that's what all this was about, as initially the second year wasn't guaranteed.

Nah, the Nuggets wanted Jonas..they'd would have been willing to guarantee his 2nd year anyway, as they'd rather have him for the next two seasons (over say..one season)

Sent from my SM-A055F using RealGM mobile app

[LuDux1]

Read on Twitter

Sounds like 5th stage of grief. Like in Simpsons, except first 4 stages were "why you little!"

Watch on YouTube

[mkot]

Jokić enjoying summer in Bar, Montenegro, where he will spend time with his close friend Nikola Vučević.
@kosarka_bez_granica

Plan B?

[AleksandarN]

Watch on YouTube

[Bad Bart]

Watch on YouTube

Great find. Sounds like the trade should go through any moment. Interesting that we still haven't heard from Valanciunas.

[Wallace_Wallace]

Read on Twitter

Glad to know he can read and does know how to respect an NBA contract.

[KGtabake]

Read on Twitter

Glad to know he can read and does know how to respect an NBA contract.

It would have been great if people in the NBA could read too and knew how to respect players in Europe under contract and avoid tampering.

[Black Jack]

Wait did the Kings actually win a trade

[Wallace_Wallace]

Read on Twitter

Glad to know he can read and does know how to respect an NBA contract.

It would have been great if people in the NBA could read too and knew how to respect players in Europe under contract and avoid tampering.

I’ve going back and forth with a couple folks last week. Give me one example when the NBA negotiates with a foreign player, the buyout amount was not agreed with the foreign team? What about when the buyout was not agreed, was the player not required to play for his foreign team anymore?

The NBA has a set limit for overseas buyouts. It was 500k in the past/750k present day, and the rest have to be paid by the player. If the player doesn’t want to pay that amount, he needs to finish his contract until he can play elsewhere (just like any sport contract basically).

[TunaFish]

Wait did the Kings actually win a trade

Not this trade!