Nuggets Cut Valanciunas to Stay Under Cap | Denver News

The Denver Nuggets waived Jonas Valanciunas to slash $10M in salary and stay under the NBA’s second apron, avoiding over $200M in luxury taxes — a move that signals a strategic pivot toward younger, faster players as they chase championship contention. Valanciunas, 35 and increasingly out of sync with the Nuggets’ evolving identity, saw his minutes plummet late last season and was deemed too slow to match the team’s athletic direction. Meanwhile, the Colorado sports world mourns Jeff Tootle, a beloved former player and community pillar who passed at 63 — his family now seeks support through a GoFundMe to cover mounting medical and funeral costs. Listen in comfort:Get a discount on a Soli Pillow: http://solipillow.com/discount/dnn. Advertise on DNN:[email protected] This is an automated, high-level news summary based on public reporting.Report issues to [email protected]. View sources & latest updates:https://sources.thednn.ai/c71c5fdbddb2df84