HUGE UPDATE On Jonas Valanciunas' Future... | Knicks News | The Knicks Recap Podcast

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Every team, every topic, everywhere. This is Beliefs.

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We have a major update on Jonas Valanciunas and his future in the NBA.
We're gonna break down all of these latest reports today.
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And now, let's get started.
Huge update. We have some conflicting reports here. According to a report from a Lithuanian news site, Jonas Valanciunas has already signed overseas. Here's that report. Jonas Valanciunas has signed with the Lithuanian team. This is coming from NBA Insider with the New York Post, Steph Bondi. So even he's confirming it.
But then a half an hour later, Bondi retracted that statement with this following update. According to Bondi, update to this Lithuanian report, Jonas Valanciunas appears to deny it.
I looked into this as well, and Jonas Valanciunas signing with the Lithuanian team? That's false. How do I know that? Because Valanciunas himself just confirmed it. Take a look.
Shout out to basketnews.com for giving us this following information. According to them, after reports surfaced on Monday that Jonas Valanciunas has signed the two-year deal with Zalgiris Kajounas, the center responded on social media. And he said the following, You wake up and you see that everything has been decided for you.
Don't need to do anything myself. Thank you, reporters. That's what he said on Instagram after reading all of these reports, essentially indicating that he's denying these reports, that he has not signed anywhere at this point in time. But don't worry too much about this, guys. Here's the latest information on what we know about Jonas Valanciunas and his future. According to Basket News sources, despite the recent buzz in the media, the situation has not changed. Valanciunas has not yet signed the contract with the Lithuanian champions. Basket News reported on June 23rd that the Center and Cajunas Club had reached a preliminary agreement. The Center committed to joining Zalgiris if he did not remain in the World's Strongest Basketball League. That verbal commitment remains in place. But the contracts have not been signed yet for one clear reason. The NBA.
The 34-year-old is still exploring the NBA free agency market and wants to fully evaluate all options before officially deciding to return to Europe. Valanciunas has already officially become a free agent. The Denver Nuggets waved the Lithuanian on July 8th, and no NBA team claimed his contract during the following 48-hour waiver period. If Jonas Valanciunas is not jumping to play overseas yet, that means he's still making a decision on where he's going to play for next season. And this is good news for the Knicks, because beforehand, everybody thought that he was going to jump overseas and play there. But the fact that he hasn't given a commitment yet to that Lithuanian team means that he's really still considering his options. And that means the New York Knicks, they could still be on the table for them. And for New York, they love that possibility. In free agency, at least for New York, there's only two names left on the board. Jonas Valanciunas and Nick Richards. And between both of those players, New York would rather add Jonas Valanciunas to the team. They have wanted Valanciunas on the Knicks for the last few seasons. He has a good relationship with Leon Rose. That tells you everything that you need to know. If he wants to stay in the NBA, and he wants to play another year in the NBA, joining the New York Knicks, the reigning defending NBA champions, that seems most likely for Valanciunas in this situation. Now New York could do something nobody expected. They could pivot, and they could still make a trade. Likely for Moussa Diabate. However, they have not yet made a trade for any player yet. And it's likely they haven't been able to do that, because they don't have the resources necessary to pull off any of those trades. Because right now, they're looking to trade Pacom D'Adieu and second round picks. Unfortunately, that trade package around the league, it's not going to get you that young center that you want. I don't even know what a trade package like that could get you around the league at this point. That's because Pacom D'Adieu's trade value is all the way at the floor. That's why he's playing in summer league, to try to raise that value. But as of right now, he hasn't done any of that. He hasn't even put a dent in it. He needs to play even better if that trade value is going to increase. But if the Knicks cannot pull off a trade, all they can do is look at free agency and look to add a player from there. And if that's the case, it's either going to be Valanciunas or Nick Richards. And right now, all the reports are indicating, all the signs are pointing to Jonas Valanciunas being the last player New York adds to the roster. Because right now, they're only looking to add more center depth to the team. If they add Valanciunas, they'll absolutely do that.