Nuggets champion pens touching tribute after joining EuroLeague powerhouse
Eurohoops reports that reserve Nuggets combo forward Vlatko Cancar has inked a two-season deal to join Italian EuroLeague powerhouse club Olimpia Milano.
The 6-foot-8 Slovenian forward, 28, was selected with the No. 49 pick by Denver way back in 2017, although he kept playing overseas before making his NBA debut in 2019-20.
MORE NEWS:Nuggets veteran confirms he's leaving Denver to play in Europe amid Jonas Valanciunas rumors
Thanks in part to major health issues, Cancar was only a consistent part of the Nuggets' rotation during the team's run to the 2023 championship. In 60 healthy regular season bouts that year, he averaged 5.0 points on .476/.374/.927 shooting splits, 2.1 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 14.8 minutes per. He was squeezed out of then-head coach Michael Malone's rotation in the playoffs, however, averaging just 2.0 mop-up minutes a game in five contests.
A torn ACL sidelined Cancar for the entirety of 2023-24. Though healthy, he played just 13 games for Denver in 2024-25. The writing was on the wall for his NBA future.
Cancar took to his Instagram to write a tribute to the only NBA team he's ever known."Thank you Denver ❤️," Cancar began. "To take a chance on a kid from Koper Slovenia, believing in me and creating me as a person and basketball player a big hug and thank you for all the memories through the good and bad."
"In this beautiful 6 years [I] met a lot of great people some connected with basketball and a lot outside the court so thanks to you all as well, [I] can say Denver is my second home," Cancar wrote. "You will always have a fan for life and hopefully our paths cross down the road again so it is not a goodbye but a see you later!"
Across five healthy NBA seasons (he was with the team while hurt in 2023-24, hence his listing six) — all with Denver — Cancar averaged 3.4 points on .472/.354/.847 shooting splits, 1.8 rebounds, and 0.9 assists a night.
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