The Denver Nuggets are mired in quite the odd time.
The Jonas Valanciunas to Europe saga isn’t complete yet, but he’s not even the only Nuggets player departing.
Vlatko Cancar was reported earlier in the week as leaving to play in Italy, and he himself confirmed that news in a podcast appearance.
“After the season and before the free agency, I was talking with my agent, and then I was asking, ‘What’s going on with Denver?’” Cancar said.“Unfortunately, they came out with the news where it was kind of like a remodel… They want to say thank you for everything that you did, but they’re trying to move on now and bring some new energy, bring some new players. And then I accepted it. I said OK, I’m glad I was part of the team for six years. For me, it was OK.”
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Cancar was a second-round pick in 2019. He has been with the Nuggets for six seasons, although he missed the entirety of 2023-24 with a torn ACL.
This past season, Cancar played in just 13 games, averaging 1.8 points and 2.5 rebounds per contest.
Cancar is an unrestricted free agent, making it easy for him to depart of his own choosing.
The 6-foot-8 forward’s best NBA season was 2022-23, when he started nine of the 60 games he played in, shot 37.4% from 3 and averaged 5.0 points per game.
Cancar is originally from Slovenia.
He leaves the NBA with a championship ring as part of the 2023 title winners.
Apparently, he paved the path for Valanciunas to leave, too, without even meaning to do such a thing.
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