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Dario Saric Rumors
Nuggets do not intend to let Jonas Valanciunas out of his contract
League sources told The Stein Line on Saturday that the Nuggets, behind the scenes, are signaling to Jonas Valanciunas that they do not intend to let him out of his NBA contract. Denver has needed a trusty backup for its three-time MVP for ages and thought it had finally filled that need when the Kings — who have a similar pressing need Dario Saric smaller salary to complete the agreed-to signing of free agent point guard Dennis Schroeder — signed off on a Valančiūnas-for-Šarić swap.
Nuggets tried to acquire Jonas Valanciunas for the last couple of seasons
Denver has also tried to land Jonas Valanciunas for the past couple of seasons, HoopsHype has learned. Heading into the upcoming season, Valanciunas is expected to have a big role in the team’s rotation, which would allow the Nuggets to rest Nikola Jokic more during the season. Meanwhile, Valanciunas is expected to address the situation soon, HoopsHype has learned. The Nuggets would unload Dario Saric’s $5.43 million salary off the books for the Nuggets, which is something they’ve tried to do dating back to before the trade deadline last season, league sources said.
Jonas Valanciunas is expected to land in Athens to undergo medical tests and extend ongoing talks with Panathinaikos Aktor, as multiple sources close to the situation confirm. Greek outlet SDNA first reported on his trip to Greece.
Jonas Valanciunas will land in Athens, Greece, tomorrow morning to meet with the Greek side, Panathinaikos, and has verbally committed to the European franchise, sources told League Alerts. The Lithuanian National team center, Valanciunas, was traded away from the Sacramento Kings to the Denver Nuggets in exchange for Dario Saric on Tuesday. Valanciunas, a 13-year NBA veteran center, desires to ‘feel important’ and is willing to push the Nuggets to free him from his contract post-trade. His contract with Denver is worth $23.4 million over the next two seasons, with no guarantee in the second year. According to Marc Stein, the trade cannot be finalised until this Sunday, which is something to consider regarding the reported European deal.
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They’ve drawn inbound calls in recent days, most notably from the Sacramento Kings, who floated an offer of Devin Carter, Dario Šarić and two second-round picks, league sources said. The Warriors have so far balked at what they felt was a buy-low attempt, league sources said.
Marc Stein: The agreed-to trade between Denver and Sacramento to swap Dario Saric for Jonas Valanciunas cannot be made official until Sunday. The Kings still need the trade to go through for salary cap reasons, but the Nuggets’ ability to convince Valanciunas to stay in the NBA is TBD.
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Dario Saric activates player option for 2025-26
Marc Stein: Denver's Dario Saric has activated his $5.4 million player option for next season, league sources tell @TheSteinLine. Saric had until June 29 to exercise or bypass the option.
There was little roster maneuverability this season to pursue further improvements. Booth told local reporters following February's trade deadline that, if Denver was going to make any move, it would have depended on including Nnaji's $8.8 million salary and Dario Šarić's $5.1 million. Sources say that the Nuggets had interest in a number of available players in that price range — Terance Mann standing out among them before Mann landed with Atlanta — but Denver felt the cost was too high. Šarić's player option for next season, furthermore, was definitely viewed by potential trade partners as a deterrent. Booth's decision to award player options to Šarić and Westbrook went down as another demerit on the team's recent roster building in the view of rival cap strategists.
Dario Saric plans to exercise $5.4 million player option with Nuggets
Despite reports out of Europe that multiple clubs have courted Saric to return overseas next season, including Dubai Basketball and Real Madrid, multiple sources told The Denver Post that Saric currently plans to exercise his $5.4 million player option with the Nuggets. “I didn’t sign a contract with nobody. Obviously, I still have a contract with Denver at the end of this season, my option for next year,” Saric told The Post this week. “So you know, me and my family didn’t decide yet. I’m still kind of going through this season, and when the season is done, I’m going to see with my family what’s the best thing, what’s the best choice for me. … I really don’t (know) myself what’s the right choice for me in this moment.”
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