A forced melon? Stein: Nuggets will push for the transaction to be completed, hoping to keep Valan as a substitute for Jokic

A few days ago, the Nuggets exchanged Saric single for Valancius, who wanted to leave the NBA and verbally agreed to join Panasinacos and arrived in Athens yesterday.

According to famous reporter Marc Stein, several sources in the league revealed that the Nuggets will advance the deal tomorrow (the trade can be officially announced on July 7) and are still determined to leave the veteran insider, hoping to make him the substitute for Jokic, although the Lithuanian big man received an offer from Greek giant Panasinakos.

Valanciunas and the Nuggets have two years left for the contract, with about $20.4 million ($10.395 million, $10 million), of which the last year is insured. Panasinakos offered Valanciunas a three-year offer of about 12 million euros (about 14.1 million US dollars).

According to European media BasketNews, the United States and the NBA system have many taxes, including: federal income tax, Colorado tax, athlete tax, NBA custodial withholding broker fees, and other fees. According to statistics, after deducting all taxes, Valanciunas' actual receipts in the NBA contract for the 2024-25 season were about US$4.2-5 million.

And the three-year, more than $14 million contract provided by Panasinakos is the after-tax figure.