Official announcement! Goodbye, Nuggets! Top center exits NBA

Lithuanian powerhouse club Zalgiris officially announced: signed a two-year contract with Valančiūnas;According to BasketNews sources, Valančiūnas signed a two-year deal worth $5.5 million.

Last summer, Valančiūnas was traded by the Kings to Denver, but he already didn't want to stay in the NBA and intended to return to Europe to play. However, the Nuggets insisted on keeping him, and he ultimately chose to play for the team in the 25-26 season, primarily serving as Jokić's top backup.

However, with the Nuggets, Valančiūnas was not utilized as expected. In the regular season last year, he played 65 games, starting 6 times, averaging 13.4 minutes per game with 8.7 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.2 assists, shooting 58.2% from the field. In this year's playoffs, he averaged just 6.3 minutes per game, posting 2.8 points and 2.3 rebounds, shooting 71.4% from the field.

Not long ago, the Nuggets cut Valančiūnas just before his $10 million salary for next season (with $2 million guaranteed) became fully guaranteed, saving about $8 million in cap space.The two parties thus parted ways, and he was finally able to freely bring his talent back to European basketball, as mentioned above.

Why cut him at the last moment? Because the Nuggets originally planned to trade Valančiūnas to get some assets back, rather than losing him for nothing, trying to squeeze every last bit of value out of him. Unfortunately, no one was willing to take him, so they had to cut him.

This guy was born on May 6, 1992, standing 2.11 meters tall with a 2.29-meter wingspan as a center, and was the 5th overall pick in the 2011 draft.

According to incomplete statistics, Valančiūnas earned a total of $156 million in salary over his 14-year NBA career, with the following stats:

Regular season: averaged 24.4 minutes per game, 12.8 points, 9 rebounds, 1.4 assists, shooting 56.1% from the field;

Playoffs: averaged 25 minutes per game, 12.5 points, 9.6 rebounds, 1.1 assists, shooting 54.9% from the field.

In short, Valančiūnas is a highly efficient double-double machine. In his best season (20-21) with the Grizzlies, he averaged about 28 minutes per game, contributing 17.1 points and 12.5 rebounds. That's why, as a traditional center, he has remained a fixture in the league even during the small-ball era.

It's over, completely over. Wishing each other well.