They have been solid teammates, played a role at times, and they’ll always be champions, but it’s time for the Nuggets to bid farewell to DeAndre Jordan and Vlatko Cancar. After a long, accomplished career, Jordan signed a minimum deal to come to Denver in 2022. After proving to be a great veteran leader, he re-signed again in 2023 and then re-signed again in 2024.
DJ has been a great locker room presence for this team and has even contributed some solid moments off the bench over the years. Vlatko was drafted by the Nuggets all the way back in 2017 with the 49th overall pick.
He came over from Europe in 2019, but was very raw and didn’t get many minutes in his first few seasons. But he started to break out in the 2022-23 season, playing in 60 games, averaging roughly 15 minutes per game.
But after that title year, Cancar suffered a brutal injury and missed the entire 2023-24 season. He was re-signed last offseason, only to fall victim to yet another injury that sidelined him for most of the season.
Nuggets must not re-sign Jordan or Cancar
Both of these players are free agents this summer, and it’s time for the Nuggets to finally cut bait. Roster spots are simply too important to Denver right now, and these are the only two that are slated to come open this offseason.
The Nuggets don’t have any draft picks or cap space, but they’ll want to sign veterans to minimum deals and use the taxpayer midlevel exception. They need rotation players badly, and Jordan and Cancar just aren’t footing the bill.
Jordan is an awesome veteran to have around, but he’s more coach than player at this point. He’s well beyond his prime and beyond the point of serving much utility in the NBA. He has been thrust into duty, backing up Nikola Jokic much more than ever should have been the case, but that must end this summer.
The Vlatko experience has been fun, but he’s 28 years old and has shown no real indication that he’s an NBA player. Denver needs to fill these spots with guys who can actually play and contribute on a nightly basis, at least in the regular season.
The roster spots are too valuable to Denver
If the roster were more stable and there was any semblance of flexibility, I could see bringing back one of these guys, or even both. They’ve been great Nuggets and, by all accounts, appear to be excellent teammates. But this team can’t spare a spot for that.
That’s what happens when you guarantee deals for Jalen Pickett, Hunter Tyson, Zeke Nnaji, and Dario Saric. Now the team has a roster crunch and no wiggle room to improve. They need to cast off any possible dead weight and hope to fill those spots with immediately playable talent.