First look: Jonas Valanciunas has made it to the Mile High City

The Denver Nugget had one of the best offseasons in the NBA. They got two bad contracts off their hands and brought four players to add depth to the lineup around Nikola Jokic. There was a three-week span where there was a possibility that one of those players, center Jonas Valanciunas, wasn’t going to end up in Denver when the season started.

After the Nuggets traded away Dario Saric in return for Valanciunas in one of the best deals of the offseason, reports instantly started to swirl that Valanciunas was going to play for Greek basketball club Panathinaikos after they offered him a three-year contract for $12 million annually. Rumors came out that his agent failed to communicate everything with Denver, while the Nuggets said they fully intended him to honor his contract. After years of not having a backup fans, Nuggets fans feared that their answer to the position was going to slip through their fingers.

After three weeks of turmoil, Valanciunas finally put the conversation to rest and confirmed that he would be in Denver and would play for the Nuggets this season. While the Greek fans who had been arguing with Nuggets fans on social media all throughout July weren’t happy about it, Nuggets Nation finally got the answer they were looking for. It took three weeks of stress, but everything worked out in the end.

For anyone who was still skeptical that Valanciunas was actually going to play in Denver, the most official form of confirmation came on Monday ahead of Nuggets Media Day.

Jonas Valančiūnas has made it to the Mile High 😏 pic.twitter.com/DNdXk5wMeD

— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) September 29, 2025

You can’t argue with him being posted on the team’s official account walking into Ball Arena.

EVP of Basketball Operations Ben Tenzer and EVP of Player Personnel Jonathan Wallace commented on the Valanciunas saga and their thoughts on the 7-footer heading into the season.

“We won’t comment on all the reports out of Europe. From us, it was a simple perspective. We traded for him. He was our player, and we had nothing but positive conversations about him joining the nuggets,” Tenzer said.

Ben Tenzer on Jonas Valančiūnas:

“We had nothing but positive conversations about him joining the Nuggets.” pic.twitter.com/EZZFThiDHz

— Denver Sports 104.3 (@DenSports1043) September 29, 2025

The two made their way overseas this summer to take in the scenes of the EuroBasket tournament in which Valanciunas and Nikola Jokic were both playing in. Even though the tournament took place two months after the trade was made, the two hadn’t yet had a chance to connect with their new center, and they emphasized the importance of making said connection on that trip.

“We hadn’t met Jonas in person since we got him in the trade, so we wanted to sit down with him and talk to him about our roster and just kind of checking in with him as more of a human being,” Tenzer said.

The fact that Tenzer and Wallace did that should be a sign to Nuggets Nation that they care deeply about their players. Monday is the official start of a new era for this franchise, and all three of Tenzer, Wallace and Valanciunas will be important pieces in the chase for a second championship. The first preseason game against the Timberwolves is just around the corner on Saturday night. Stay up to date with all the latest news from Nuggets Media Day with Denver Sports.

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