The Denver Nuggets performed wizardry over the summer, acquiring Jonas Valančiūnas from the Kings for Dario Šarić. They went from having a non-rotation player they mistakenly gave a two-year contract with a player option to the best Jokić backup they've had. In Valančiūnas's first regular-season game with the Nuggets, he posted eight points (4-of-8 shooting), three rebounds, two assists, and one block in 12 minutes.
Fans got used to watching Denver lose leads or dig itself into an even bigger hole in non-Jokić minutes. It would get ugly, really fast. On Thursday, that didn't happen. Valančiūnas posted a +/- of +4.
Now, Jokić played 41 minutes in the overtime loss, so when you compare that to Valančiūnas's 12 minutes, it's quite a difference. If we're being honest, David Adelman could've played Valančiūnas more, as Jokić looked gassed. He finished with a triple-double, which is a testament to just how good he is even when he isn't playing well, but on an inefficient 8-of-23 shooting (2-of-13 from three).
It was just one game in a season with 81 more (plus the playoffs), so it's useless to overreact to Jokić's individual performance, but it's enough knowing that when he's out of the game, the Nuggets won't be flailing around aimlessly.
The feel for the game Valanciunas brings to this second unit is really standing out. Nuggets have looked organized offensively without Jokic, which hasn’t always been true.
— Bennett Durando (@BennettDurando) October 24, 2025
Jonas Valančiūnas was a plus-4 in official Nuggets debut
What fans saw at Chase Center (and during the preseason) is that Valančiūnas is an underrated passer. He's no Jokić, of course (no one is), but that element of his game is a significant boost to the Nuggets' second unit.
Now that's a high post feed from Jonas Valanciunas pic.twitter.com/3K2vGJcEzz
— Charlie Cummings (@klaytheist11) October 24, 2025
Hey look Jonas Valanciunas is also good at passing. pic.twitter.com/4Mmwkzdwpy
— Steve Jones (@stevejones20) October 5, 2025
All fans could've asked Valančiūnas for in his debut was to keep Denver afloat with Jokić on the bench, and he did more than that. In a loss that stung a lot more than it should've, his minutes were one of the positive takeaways. The Nuggets don't need to scramble to make up for the non-Jokić minutes anymore.
Jokić and the starters played more minutes than expected as the game was decided in overtime against a tough conference opponent. Even then, another bonus of the Valančiūnas trade is that, throughout the season, Jokić will be able to get more rest than usual. That will come in handy when the postseason rolls around. Above all else, Denver needs Jokić to be at his best.
With Valančiūnas in town now, that should be the case. He might've though about leaving the NBA to play in Greece, but we're glad he's in Denver.