By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
The Jonas Valanciunas saga might have arrived at an ending point, with the Lithuanian center expected to stay with the Denver Nuggets despite the huge offer coming from Panathinaikos.
According to Marc Stein, the trade by the Denver Nuggets to acquire Jonas Valanciunas is on the course to be official later this week.
At the moment, the player doesn’t have a second year guaranteed in his contract, while he does have guaranteed $10.4M in the 2025-2026 season.
Denver’s trade to acquire Jonas Valančiūnas remains on course to be made official later this week but an Excel Sports official tells @TheSteinLine that the Nuggets have not have guaranteed the second season (‘26-27) left on Valančiūnas’ deal.
He is guaranteed $10.4M in ‘25-26. pic.twitter.com/qaPSjeSB7U
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 9, 2025
According to Vic Lombardi, the franchise and the experienced player have agreed on staying together, especially if Jonas Valanciunas’ second season with Denver will be guaranteed.
“The Nuggets believe he will play here and time will heal,” it was said during Altitude SR 92.5’s show.
And when Lombardi is asked if Valanciunas is going to stay if he gets his second year guaranteed, his answer is: “100%, because this will give him stability”.
It has to be noted that the tone of the show was more than insulting to Panathinaikos, with Lombardi not pronouncing the name of the EuroLeague powerhouse the right way and a couple of inaccurate racial stereotypes being reproduced.
The Nuggets previously informed the player that they were expecting the 33-year-old to honor his contract, as they traded for him as a backup to Nikola Jokic, planning to put the European big men together to strengthen the team’s ambition.
However, Panathinaikos made a significant 12-million euros offer for the Lithuanian center, who also landed in Athens to attend medicals and discuss the deal with the Greek powerhouse
“You can say anything. A lot has already been said, all kinds of thoughts. The bubble burst, and everyone shared what everyone thought. We’ll only find out when the first game is played. Everything will be clear,” Valanciunas commented yesterday during the 2025 B8 Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.
PHOTO CREDIT: FIBA