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Jonas Valanciunas Rumors
Kristaps Porzingis goes off for 34 points, 19 rebounds as Latvia is eliminated by Lithuania
The Lithuanian national team joined Turkey and Germany in the 2025 EuroBasket quarterfinals after defeating hosts Latvia in Riga. Led by Arnas Velicka’s heroics, Rimas Kurtinaitis’ side prevailed 88-79 at the Xiaomi Arena, eliminating the home team despite Kristaps Porzingis’ standout night. Velicka delivered an outstanding performance in the absence of the injured Rokas Jokubaitis, orchestrating Lithuania’s offense and closing the Baltic derby with 21 points, 12 assists, and five rebounds. Azoulas Tubelis added another double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds, while Deividas Sirvydis had his best EuroBasket showing, contributing 18 points. Interestingly, Jonas Valanciunas logged fewer than 10 minutes but still managed to score nine points. On the other side, Porzingis had a monster game with 34 points and 19 rebounds for a PIR of 39, before fouling out in the final minutes. Only Arvydas Sabonis (23 v Greece in 1995) and his fellow countryman Andris Biedrins (20 v France in 2009) have grabbed more in a single EuroBasket game over the last 30 years.
Former long-time NBA forward and current Lithuanian national team manager Linas Kleiza was the key figure in calming the tensions that arose during halftime on Saturday. The former longtime national team player described how everything looked from his perspective. “By the time I got to the locker room, Schroder had already said a lot to (Jonas) Valanciunas about our fan and that he was responsible for it,” Kleiza recounted talking to Lithuanian media on Sunday. “Obviously, all the German players were emotional, and we had to calm things down. I went, found out what happened. One fan simply had a conflict with Schroder, and it turned into a racism scandal."
After a record-breaking 57 rebounds and a convincing 94–70 win over Great Britain, Lithuania cruised to another victory at EuroBasket 2025, with the Denver Nuggets center needing just 13 minutes to dominate. Jonas Valančiūnas scored 19 points and grabbed five rebounds, and didn’t even return to the court after halftime.
Talking about his mentality, Vucevic believes Buzelis is a bit more American than European, as he was born in America. "Yeah, he is probably a little more American," the 34-year-old noted. "But he was born and grew up there, so that is normal. He is a good guy—a very good guy." "He is still young, like a kid, so he likes to have fun and joke around. At the same time, he is pretty smart for his age and has a good understanding of what he needs to do." "Even Jonas Valanciunas calls him 'the American,' saying, 'Tell your American guy to play,'" Vucevic added.
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He described EuroBasket as feeling closer to home compared to other tournaments: “It’s closer to our region, to our base. Every tournament is important, but the European championship feels more like home, so I’m glad to be here.”
When asked about other teams, Valančiūnas stressed respect for every opponent: “Every team is dangerous. Basketball is unpredictable. One day you’re the toughest team, the next you can lose to someone you didn’t expect. We respect every opponent, but we also respect ourselves and are here to fight until the last whistle.” While big names like Nikola Jokić, Luka Dončić, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and others make the tournament exciting, he believes all teams have the potential to shake things up: “I think every team is capable. We have some big names coming. Serbia, Turkey, Germany, we have Slovenia with Luka and, Greece with Giannis… We have a lot of a lot of a lot of big names, but that feel like every team is capable and every team can make some shake.”
Jonas Valanciunas: I talked to Nikola Jokic after trade
On July 21, in a conversation with BasketNews, the Denver Nuggets center Jonas Valanciunas cleared the air about his future by confirming his commitment to the Nuggets. 10 days later, Valanciunas revealed another detail about his decision, confirming that he spoke with the Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic. "Yeah, we spoke," Valanciunas told BasketNews on Friday. "Everything went well."
Although Valanciunas wasn't eager to delve into the details of his conversation with Jokic, the Lithuanian said that he had gotten to know the Serbian star through their matchups on the court. After being asked whether the Nuggets made an additional effort to keep him in the NBA, JV noted that he said everything he wanted in his previous statement to BasketNews.
Jonas Valanciunas: I am fully committed to honoring my contract with the Nuggets this season
Donas Urbonas: Jonas Valanciunas spoke with me to clear the air on the Nuggets and Panathinaikos situation: "I want to clear the air about my playing situation next season now that Denver has made their decision to keep me. The idea of playing for Panathinaikos, closer to home, was very exciting to me, but that will have to wait. I am fully committed to honoring my contract with the Nuggets this season and will give it my all to compete for a championship."
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Nuggets exec Ben Tenzer on Jonas Valanciunas: He's excited to be a Nugget
Nuggets executive vice president of basketball operations Ben Tenzer attempted to tamp down any conjecture over Valanciunas' arrival during a news conference Friday that was set up to introduce Cam Johnson. "There's been nothing but healthy conversations in terms of him honoring his contract and him excited to be a Nugget," Tenzer said of Valanciunas. So, no concerns that Valanciunas might not be with the Nuggets to start the season? "No concerns," Tenzer said.
Michael Scotto: Denver Nuggets executive Ben Tenzer on Jonas Valanciunas: “We’ve had great conversations with him, and there’s been nothing but healthy conversations in terms of him honoring his contract and him excited to be a Nugget.” Tenzer added he has “no concerns” on Valanciunas for camp.
“Why did you feel like Jonas Valanciunas was the right fit?” David Adelman: “You can play through him. I said this the other day — and I really meant it — I thought people forget how good DeMarcus Cousins was for us that second half of that season. Jonas is a guy you can post up against smaller lineups. He’s a proficient player down there, very good dribble handoff player, you can play him off the elbows. He’s a guy those guards can play through. And when Jok doesn’t play, you have a legitimate starting center that we just happen to be lucky enough to have as our backup. So we’re super blessed to get him. Cannot wait for him to get to the United States — get to Denver. We’re so excited to have him.”
“He’s a bona fide, big-time center over the last decade who you can put in a bunch of different spots all over the floor,” Adelman told The Post. “And when I say ‘point center,’ I mean someone you can play through in the half-court. I don’t envision him getting a rebound and pushing the ball up. I do think some of the things we already do (work with him): playing five-out with back-side dribble handoffs, playing off the elbows, posting him up against smaller lineups, his ability to make others better. “It’s not the assist numbers that matter to me. It’s his ability to start ball movement through the impact of who he is. So he’s an enormous get. I’m super excited about getting him here, getting him acclimated.”
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