The Denver Nuggets are having a smooth finish to an eventful offseason.
Over the past several weeks, the Nuggets have been one of the most active contenders in the league. Looking to make some moves to get back to the forefront of the championship picture, the Nuggets have once again established themselves as one of the league’s best teams.
After a crushing Game 7 loss to the eventual champion Oklahoma City Thunder, the Nuggets made some significant changes. While swapping Michael Porter Jr. for Cam Johnson was the biggest change, the team’s trade for Jonas Valanciunas made the most noise.
While it was certainly newsworthy that the Nuggets acquired the best backup center of the Nikola Jokic era, the move made news for other reasons. Valanciunas reportedly was in talks to head back to Europe next season, but the Nuggets eventually worked things out to get the Lithuanian big man to stick in the NBA.
Another layer of this story was recently revealed, with Valanciunas’ follow-up with BasketNews. After all of the drama, Valanciunas is set to play in Denver next season and has also already spoken with Jokic, saying everything went well in their talks.
While it was seemingly all worked out for Valanciunas to suit up in Denver next season already, his conversation with Jokic is just another good sign for the Nuggets and their fans. With the three-time MVP looking to bring Denver its second NBA title, having Valanciunas to back him up could give the Nuggets the extra boost they need to get past the Thunder and the rest of the league.
