The Sacramento Kings announced Sunday it has completed the trade with the Denver Nuggets, swapping Jonas Valanciunas for Dario Šarić.
Considering the career arcs of these two players, from the Kings perspective this deal appears to be largely financial.
Šarić hasn’t averaged more than 20 minutes per game since 2019-20 and has career averages of 10.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists over his eight seasons in the NBA. The 6’10” power forward has averaged 44% from the field and 36% from three over his career. Last season with the Nuggets, he only played in 16 games and had career lows in points and rebounds. He was the 12th pick by the Orlando Magic in 2014.
Valanciunas is still a starter-level NBA center with career averages of 13.1 points and 9.3 rebounds. As a backup to Domantas Sabonis after last season’s trade deadline, he averaged 8.7 points and 7 rebounds in Sacramento.
Šarić is owed $5.4 million next season. Valanciunas is owed $10.3 million next season and $10 million the season after. So, there is around $15 million in savings with this deal.
This leaves questions about the backup center position behind Sabonis next season, unless the Kings are ready to give Maxime Raynaud a run at that. (And based on his performance so far in the Summer League, that might just be the case.) Raynaud is a rookie though and will need to adjust to the strength and speed of NBA players.
This trade was, of course, reported over a month ago. There has been some controversy over Valancianas reportedly exploring his overseas options, particularly with Panathinaikos. The Nuggets have insisted Valanciuans will honor his NBA contract. For now, it seems like things have settled, but it will be interesting to see what happens with Jonas. Like he was for Sabonis, he is an ideal backup for Nikola Jokic.