1 for 1! Nuggets God-level transaction! Change the entire western pattern

In the early morning of July 14, the Nuggets officially announced that they would get Valansciunas through the transaction. As early as the day the free market opened, the deal was exposed and it took a full two weeks to reach it. Valan initially refused to join the Nuggets and formally met with Greek giant Panasinakos, and decided to return to Europe to play and withdraw from the NBA.

Varan would rather give up all his salary next season and want the Nuggets to buy out himself. Why has Valan changed his mind now? The Nuggets have both soft and hard work: 1. The Nuggets are firm in their attitude and refuse to buy out Valan. He has an NBA contract and cannot join European teams; 2. Transfer Varan's unsecured contract for the 2026-27 season into a full-time guaranteed contract.

Varan has two years left in the contract, and 10 million US dollars in the 2026-27 season was originally insured. Jokic attached great importance to this deal. When he learned that Varan did not want to join the Nuggets, he asked the teacher to call Varan himself to recruit. Valan was surprised after receiving the call. He did not expect that the teacher would contact him on his own initiative.

Varan's annual salary next season is US$10.4 million (full guarantee), and Panasinakos offers him a quotation of 12 million euros (about US$14.1 million) for three years. At that time, many fans questioned: Why did Valan give up his annual salary of tens of millions and accept a smaller contract? If you stay in the NBA, Valan will get $4.2 million next season, which is less than in Europe.

European contracts are usually paid, and Valan will get 4.33 million US dollars next season! Valan had only one year left in the NBA to guarantee the contract, and European teams directly offered three-year long contracts. In addition, Valan is 33 years old, and he really wants to go back to Europe to play. Fortunately, the Nuggets are sincere enough to turn the remaining two years of Varan into full guarantee.

Use Saric who can't play the ball, and 1 for helping the teacher find a substitute. The Nuggets' deal is perfect. Although Valan is slow to move and his offensive ability declines, the Nuggets have no better choice at this stage. Varan was born on May 6, 1992, 2.11 meters tall and 2.29 meters wide. He is the substitute center that the Nuggets are waiting for. In the 2024-25 season, Varan played a total of 81 regular season games with the Wizards and the Kings. He averaged 18.8 minutes per game, scored 10.4 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2 assists, 0.5 steals and 0.6 blocks, and shots from three events: 55%, 21.6%, 87.9%. When Valan defended, his opponent's three-point shooting percentage increased by 8.4%, and his basket shooting percentage increased by 3.8%.

Varan is not useless, with a 63.1% shooting percentage at the basket. He averaged 13th in the league in second offense and scored 21 double-doubles last season, ranking 28th in the league. He averaged 2.3 frontcourt boards per game, ranking 26th in the league. Don’t forget that his playing time is less than 19 minutes. The most important thing is that the Nuggets no longer have to keep Jordan Jr.

Starting from the summer of 2022, the Nuggets have signed Jordan Jr. in three consecutive offseasons. Last season, Jordan Jr. averaged only 3.7 points, 5.1 rebounds and 0.5 blocks per game. This summer, the Nuggets exchanged Porter Jr. for Cameron Johnson and Saric for Big Valan. The basic salary contract signed Bruce Brown and Hardaway Jr., and returned to the championship ranks.

Do you think the Nuggets can break out of the West next season? How else do they need to strengthen?