"Play eight minutes a game and have these Jokic stat nerds blame you" - Eddie Johnson thinks Jonas Valanciunas should go to Europe

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"Play eight minutes a game and have these Jokic stat nerds blame you" - Eddie Johnson thinks Jonas Valanciunas should go to Europe originally appeared on Basketball Network.
When we talk about the winners of this year's offseason, the Denver Nuggets are definitely fighting for a top-two spot, alongside the Houston Rockets. First and foremost, Nikola Jokic finally got a proven backup at the center position – Jonas Valanciunas arrived from the Sacramento Kings in a deal for Dario Saric. The Nuggets also added players like Cameron Johnson, Bruce Brown and Tim Hardaway Jr.
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It seems like the Nuggets filled all the gaps they had last season. Their roster finally has depth, Jokic has a backup, they got rid of Michael Porter Jr.'s heavy contract, improved their shooting with Johnson and Hardaway and toughened up their defense and locker room presence with fan favorite Bruce Brown.
Everything looked perfect for the Colorado-based squad until Shams Charania reported that the Lithuanian big man doesn't plan on staying with the Nuggets and has already agreed to a deal with Greek powerhouse Panathinaikos. The situation is still unfolding and nobody really knows what will happen. Still, it seems Lithuanian big man wants to return to Europe for a bigger role, while the Nuggets are determined to keep him on the roster.
"This is going to get ugly," NBA legend Eddie Johnson shared on his X profile. "Again, he will never say it, but he knows his minutes will be minuscule and the critics will run rampant with the blame game. Basically, come back and play eight mins a game and have these Jokic stat nerds blame you with a plus/minus of how you are failing him. He like I am going to Greece!"
Johnson made a similar move himself
Eddie, a 17-year NBA veteran, made a similar move himself in the 1994–1995 season, when he left the league to play for Olympiacos, Panathinaikos's biggest rival. Those were years when Johnson's productivity on the court began to decline, and so did his minutes.
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Not satisfied with that, he made what was at the time an uncharacteristic move — he left the NBA for Europe just to get more playing time and compete for trophies.
From that angle, Johnson clearly understands Valanciunas's position. As for Jonas himself, he was part of a trade last year that sent him from the New Orleans Pelicans to the Sacramento Kings, where he served as a backup to fellow Lithuanian Domantas Sabonis. The 33-year-old has a similar playing style to Jokic, and in that setup, Valanciunas averaged just 16.9 minutes per game.
That was by far the lowest average playing time of his career, and considering how dependent Denver's system is on Jokic, it's hard to imagine Valanciunas getting more minutes than he did in Sacramento.
Pairing the two also wouldn't make sense, since both are old-school traditional centers and would be easy targets on defense. Johnson's point for Nuggets fans makes sense, especially when we remember what happened to Saric last year when, after 16 games, he was frozen on the bench.
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If Valanciunas leaves Nuggets have a problem
The 6'11" big man recently turned 33 and committed to playing for Lithuania in this summer's EuroBasket. It's clear that he doesn't have much time left on the court at this stage of his career and likely wants to end it with a meaningful trophy, not to mention being closer to home.
As for the Nuggets, if they lose Valanciunas, they could face another problem. The free agent center market isn't deep, with the biggest name being Al Horford, who's approaching his 40th birthday and isn't getting any younger. It'll be interesting to see how this situation unfolds and where Jonas will land.
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Related: Josh Kroenke saying Nuggets might be one wrong injury away from trading Nikola Jokic reveals the team's biggest problem
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 8, 2025, where it first appeared.