Jonas Valanciunas just became one of the more interesting veteran centers floating around the market. The Nuggets waived him right before his $10.0 million salary for 2026-27 would’ve become fully guaranteed, so Denver’s only on the hook for $2.0 million. Shams Charania says multiple teams are expected to show interest, and BasketNews has also tied him pretty strongly to Zalgiris Kaunas if he decides to head back to Europe.
Valanciunas put up 8.7 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in just 13 minutes a night for Denver last season. He’s 34, so nobody’s pretending this is prime Valanciunas, but that per-minute output is still legit. Across 1,002 career games, he’s been one of the most dependable old-school centers in the league, with post scoring, defensive rebounding, screening, and a career field-goal percentage of 56.0%.
He’s not for every team, though. Valanciunas doesn’t switch, he doesn’t space the floor much these days, and good playoff offenses will hunt him in space if he’s out there too long. But for a contender that just needs 12 to 18 minutes of size, rebounding, and easy bench points, he’s still got value. Here are the five best fits, three contenders, and two dark horses.
5. Dallas Mavericks
The Mavericks are the less competitive team here, so this one’s more of a dark horse than a contender looking for a bench upgrade. They went 26-56 last season and finished 12th in the West, so this isn’t about Valanciunas pushing them into the playoffs. It’s more about steadying a frontcourt that’s been kind of chaotic since the Luka trade.
Daniel Gafford averaged 9.5 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.1 assists while shooting 65.5% from the field, and Dereck Lively II is still a young rim-runner they’re developing amid all the injuries. The Mavs also grabbed Morez Johnson with the No. 9 pick in the 2026 draft, so the center room already has bodies in it. That’s why this one doesn’t rank higher. Valanciunas would be more of a “raise the floor” veteran than something they actually need.
Still, there’s some logic to it. This team was bad enough last year that they could use more grown-ups in the rotation, not just young guys still figuring things out. Valanciunas could give them 15 steady minutes, help on the defensive glass, punish smaller benches, and show the young centers how to play with some actual physicality.
The downside’s obvious, too. A 34-year-old center doesn’t make a ton of sense for a 26-win team unless the salary is low and the role’s crystal clear. If Valanciunas wants to chase a ring, Dallas shouldn’t be his first landing spot. If he just wants steady minutes and an easy path, they can sell him on that.
4. Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers are another dark horse, and it really just depends on how aggressive they want to get with their starting center spot. They went 42-40 last season, finished ninth in the West, and lost to the Warriors in the Play-In. Not terrible, but not exactly rock-solid either.
But the Clippers could definitely offer Valanciunas something most teams won’t: a potential starting job on a very competitive roster that’s poised for an exciting season after the Kawhi Leonard trade. The Clippers have Darius Garland, Brandon Ingram, Rui Hachimura, and a 38-year-old Brook Lopez now projected as the starting five.
Lopez is still very solid after putting up 8.5 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.3 assists last season, with Yanic Niederhauser still waiting to come back from a leg fracture. Given the thin depth and quality of that position right now, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Valanciunas as the starter come the regular-season opening week.
Valanciunas wouldn’t make the Clippers faster, younger, or more switchable, and that is a real issue. But he would make them bigger, tougher, and more stable at the one position where the roster feels very shaky. For a team trying to stay competitive in this new era, adding a seasoned center could be the logical move.
3. Detroit Pistons
The Pistons suddenly turned into one of the most physical teams in the conference, with Cade Cunningham operating as a legit superstar engine and Jalen Duren playing at an All-NBA level. The roster already has size pretty much everywhere, which is why adding Valanciunas would feel like a luxury this team should want.
Duren led the team in rebounding, and Isaiah Stewart provided solid production with 9.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks across 51 games before getting traded to the Grizzlies earlier in the offseason. That move left a clear vacancy on the bench for a backup center.
After a tough playoff exit, the Pistons are looking for more experience and depth when matchups get physical in a long series. Duren’s postseason performance added some complexity to his extension talks, but the bigger picture is that Detroit could really use another reliable big body for 10 to 14 minutes off the bench.
Valanciunas would give them exactly that kind of veteran stabilizer. He would not share the floor much with Duren, but he could punish smaller lineups on switches, soak up tough minutes against elite centers and provide extra rebounding and post scoring when the Pistons need it most in the regular season or playoffs.
2. Golden State Warriors
Golden State makes a lot of sense here since they just lost Quinten Post to Memphis after passing on matching his three-year, $30.0 million offer sheet. Post averaged 7.7 points, 4.0 rebounds, and knocked down 93 threes last year, so that was a real loss up front, even if the Warriors didn’t want to pay him that much.
The odd part is the Warriors already brought back both Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis. Post was projected behind both of them on the depth chart, which is probably why they let him walk in the first place. Still, Horford’s 40 years old, Porzingis has his own injury history, and the Warriors only went 37-45 last season. That frontcourt needs some insurance against injuries and age.
Valanciunas isn’t exactly a typical Warriors center, since he doesn’t run split actions like a passing hub, and he’s nothing like a spacer the way Post was. But he fixes stuff Golden State’s kind of ignored for years now. He rebounds hard. He sets real screens. He scores in the paint. He gives Steph Curry an actual target down low. And he gives Steve Kerr a different look when the jumpers just aren’t falling.
This would honestly be a very un-Warriors kind of signing, and that’s exactly why I like it for them. They’ve leaned into finesse and small-ball for years now. Sometimes you just need a big body who grabs eight boards in 15 minutes and beats up the other team’s bench. That’s Valanciunas.
1. Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers are the best landing spot, full stop, because Luka Doncic changes what every center’s role looks like next to him. They already traded for Walker Kessler, who averaged 2.4 blocks in his last healthy year and signed a massive four-year deal, and they also brought in Kevon Looney on a one-year, $3.9 million contract. So yeah, the center room isn’t empty.
But Valanciunas gives them something completely different from both of those guys. Kessler’s the long-term rim protector. Looney’s the low-usage veteran rebounder. Valanciunas would be the bench scorer and bruiser. That’s a totally different job. If the Lakers want a second-unit center who can actually create offense without needing Doncic to do everything, Valanciunas beats Looney at that specific task pretty easily.
The Doncic fit is almost too easy to picture. Valanciunas can set massive screens, seal switches, catch pocket passes, and finish through contact in a way that punishes small lineups. Doncic’s always made traditional centers look better than they actually are, because he finds them early, late, high, low, from every weird angle imaginable.
There’s a bit of a role question since Looney’s already there. But if Valanciunas is out there on a cheap deal after getting waived, the Lakers should still pick up the phone. He’s the best mix of need, star fit, playable minutes, and title logic on this whole list.
If Valanciunas sticks in the NBA instead of heading off to Zalgiris, the Lakers should be first in line.
