Denver Nuggets GM Confirms The News On Centre Jonas Valanciunas

After another disappointing finish to their season in 2025, the Denver Nuggets came into the offseason under new General Manager Ben Tenzer looking to reload. The team has done just that, adding Bruce Brown and Tim Hardaway Jr. via free agency while trading for Cam Johnson and Jonas Valanciunas, although the latter has come with some potential drama. 

Shortly after acquiring the 33-year-old veteran, reports emerged that Valanciunas wanted to head to Greece to play out the remainder of his career away from the NBA, even after being acquired to back up three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić.

Now, Tenzer has quieted those doubts, noting that the team has been in contact with Valanciunas and at this point in time, the expectation will be that he joins the team in a backup role moving forward.

“We’ve had great conversations with him.”

“There’s been nothing but healthy conversations in terms of him honoring his contract and him being excited to be a Nugget.”

This is great news for the Nuggets, a team that has dealt with inconsistency at the backup center position for quite some time now, but with the 33-year-old, they get a physical presence that can play significant minutes when Nikola Jokic is off the floor. On top of that, he represents a major piece of a brand-new second unit in Denver that includes Bruce Brown and Tim Hardaway Jr., with the Nuggets finally surrounding Jokić with the depth and talent that fans have been begging to see for years.

Sure, Valanciunas likely won't affect the stat sheet the way some fans would like, as he averaged just 8.7 points a game in 2024/25, but with 7.0 boards and 0.5 blocks a game, he's the type of physical threat that will thrive in this second unit.

Only time will tell if the acquisition of Valanciunas from the Sacramento Kings was the right move to make for Denver, but now, the noise around his NBA future has been silenced as the Nuggets look to get back to the NBA Finals for the second time in Jokić’s career.