The Sacramento Kings are buying and selling middle Jonas Valanciunas to the Denver Nuggets for Dario Saric, sources instructed ESPN’s Shams Charania on Tuesday.
Valanciunas, 33, has two years and round $20 million left on his deal whereas Saric is on an expiring contract.
The Kings acquired Valanciunas on the commerce deadline final season, and he appeared in 32 video games for them, averaging 8.7 factors and 7 rebounds in 16.9 minutes.
The Nuggets have lengthy looked for a succesful backup for three-time MVP middle Nikola Jokic and hope Valanciunas, a 13-year veteran, fills that function.
Saric hardly ever noticed the court docket in Denver and struggled when he did, averaging 3.5 factors whereas capturing under 40% from the ground. His expiring deal offers Sacramento extra flexibility shifting ahead.
It has been a busy early offseason for Denver. They traded longtime starter Michael Porter Jr. for Nets wing Cam Johnson and reunited with bench sparkplug Bruce Brown.