Nuggets media day: Jonas Valanciunas ‘happy’ to be in Denver and more we learned

Before the Nuggets flew out to San Diego on Monday for a week of training camp they indulged local reporters for a couple of hours on the practice court at Ball Arena Here are five things we learned from preseason media day Jonas Valanciunas happy to be in Denver The Nuggets snuffed out Panathinaikos s attempt to lure Valanciunas to Greece this summer by making it clear that he s still expected to honor his NBA contract a stance that Valanciunas hasn t attempted to protest with his words or actions In at least one instance Monday an NBA contestant didn t show up to his band s media day because of a contract dispute One thing I want to clarify is I m here I m happy to be here and I m gonna dive in to do everything to win more games than ever Valanciunas disclosed when required about the drama that emerged after Denver traded for him in July Offered a chance to explain any reluctance to stay in the NBA the Lithuanian center once again quelled the topic Just being here I m relaxed and I m happy Valanciunas announced If I m not happy I m not gonna be here right I think we ve got to put everything behind us Now we have a future in front of us In particular he repeatedly circled back to the theme of Denver s championship likely during his first podium appearance in a Nuggets uniform Entering his th season in the NBA the closest Valanciunas has been to the NBA Finals was in Toronto where he spent the first seven years of his career only to be traded halfway through the - season The Raptors went on to win the title that season and didn t offer their longtime center a ring I m excited to go again my th season to jump in and be in perhaps the best situation I ever had to win a championship Valanciunas reported I ve learned that it s a organization sport Sometimes you ve gotta put your ego aside put your everything aside to be effective Sometimes you need to endorsement your teammates more than you can patronage yourself Those little things come together for good teams The teams seeking to be the best Nuggets enter their double-big era David Adelman certainly knows how to build anticipation The first-year head coach intends to play Valanciunas and Nikola Jokic together at certain points this season he commented Monday introducing a new layer of intrigue to the Jokic viewing experience It won t be the first time he s shared the floor with another center Denver posted a net rating using him and Mason Plumlee once upon a time But rarely since Jokic rounded into MVP form have the Nuggets explored lineups with two centers Jokic and DeAndre Jordan never stepped foot on the court at the same time in three years as teammates Suffice it to say a double-big look with Valanciunas is another variable that could make the Nuggets immensely watchable I d like to see how people guard those two guys Adelman revealed I think that would be a very enthralling decision of who you put on who Will you put a smaller guy on Valanciunas He s gonna perfectly destroy him on the offensive glass And we all know what Nikola can do shooting the three and spreading the floor Times have changed Playing with two centers isn t even a novelty these days Minnesota made a Western Conference Finals run with Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert in the frontcourt Houston determined success with Alperen Sengun and Steven Adams playing together last season Adelman is fascinated enough by the trend to try it himself I m just trying to see who s gonna be four and be five Valanciunas joked Cam Johnson prioritizing durability Denver s newest starter missed games in the last two years combined in Brooklyn about of all regular-season games When petitioned if he has a games-played goal for this season Johnson disclosed around Last year the games played it was not ideal by any means he reported Specific of it was circumstantial Chosen of it was unfortunate But I m definitely looking to exceed that mark and be available I think that s a big thing and I did a lot in the offseason to make sure that I ll be in a position to do that Johnson later elaborated that is invariably the goal but he joked that he was trying to give myself that little wiggle room When he was healthy last season he was outstanding for the Nets averaging a career-high points and assists per contest I think I missed a good couple weeks with an ankle injury an ankle injury that occurred with one second left in a contest against Milwaukee going after a loose ball to finish the battle I ran into a teammate stepped on his foot and there went that month You know So chosen of the things you can t perpetually control But from the things I can control perspective there s just making sure that everything s solid strength is in the right spot aerobic conditioning is in the right spot and everything that filters down Jared Dudley to run defense Adelman revealed that his new lead assistant coach will be in charge of the Nuggets defense in the role previously held by Ryan Saunders Dudley joined Adelman s inaugural staff after having worked under Jason Kidd with the Mavericks since Obviously Jared and I will work hand-in-hand with that Adelman noted There s going to be guys underneath him answering to him I think the hardest part of doing this as a new coach is understanding that delegation is so key because you can t do everything every day You ve gotta trust the people around you Related Articles Christian Braun Peyton Watson both express desire to stay with Nuggets Nikola Jokic on contract extension delay Plan to be Nugget forever Renck vs Keeler Who is under more pressure Nuggets David Adelman or Avs Jared Bednar Nuggets Journal Nikola Jokic s future Jonas Valanciunas s arrival and other storylines entering training camp How much will it cost to watch every Nuggets meeting after NBA s new media rights deal New execs want star players in their ear A subtle note from media day that could eventually be relevant if the Nuggets look to fill their th roster spot during the season Co-general managers Jon Wallace and Ben Tenzer have emphasized to Jokic and Jamal Murray that Denver s front office is eager to hear input from them about the roster Being able to talk to Nikola being able to talk to Jamal being the two kind of focal points of our organization we recounted them to be brutally honest with us commented Wallace the squad s new VP of sportsman personnel What do they need from us