The Greens never tried to steal any player. They had official assurance from the Lithuanian’s close circle that the player would be released from the NBA.
It would be unreasonable and unprofessional to believe that Panathinaikos would attempt to forcibly take a player from the NBA, who holds a guaranteed contract with any team. Especially when we’re not talking about just any team, but the 2023 NBA champions.
What emerges is that Panathinaikos was cautious even about agreeing for Jonas Valančiūnas to come to Greece. However, they had the guarantee from the Lithuanian player’s agent—who is not actively involved in the player’s NBA team negotiations—that Denver would definitely release him.
Following Panathinaikos’ urging, and in order not to provoke the NBA—and specifically the Nuggets—they avoided creating much publicity and crowds upon Valančiūnas’ arrival at the last moment.
Panathinaikos, as Europe’s biggest basketball club, has never acted abruptly not even with financially struggling Greek teams; it would be absurd to do so with a giant like Denver and a billionaire owner like Kroenke.
Valančiūnas’ agent did open the door for the player to join Panathinaikos, explaining that for family reasons the player wishes to return to Europe, but he also complicated the situation by guaranteeing the release from the Nuggets without having previously discussed it thoroughly with them. His initiative made the situation harder; with better communication between the player and the Nuggets, it could have been resolved quickly.
Panathinaikos was shocked when they realized that Kroenke was not informed about the matter; under these circumstances, it’s not surprising the Nuggets became angry and took the Lithuanian agent’s handling as disrespect.
The same would have happened if, for example, an NBA team officially spoke with a Panathinaikos player who has a guaranteed contract. How would Panathinaikos react? Probably the same way the Nuggets reacted now…
The key in such cases is communication. At first, the two teams got involved without owning any responsibility. The Nuggets, who suddenly had solved a years-long problem with a backup center, only to see Valančiūnas traveling to Greece the next day, aren’t the villains here. Nor is Panathinaikos, who took the guarantee from the agent that the release would be a mere formality.
The matter is ongoing because others put obstacles. However, everything can be resolved with respect. The coming days will show where this case is heading. The player wants to return to Europe, and the tangled thread is only beginning to unravel now that everyone knows.
