The Varan deal is officially concluded! Can the Nuggets win the championship next season?

The deal for the Nuggets King was finally officially concluded.

According to official news from the Nuggets, the team has officially reached a single transaction with the Kings about Saric and Valan, and Valan will wear the No. 17 jersey in the Nuggets next season. I believe everyone has heard of this transaction. The difficulty lies not in the transaction itself, but in Valan's idea.

Previous news said that Valan did not want to stay in the NBA to play, and would rather give up his entire salary than return to Europe. He had already negotiated a contract with the Greek team. Even Valan himself flew to Greece to meet with the new team, and he was almost signed.

At first, everyone thought that the Nuggets might help Valan and then use the free-earning middle class to continue to sign in the free market - this is quite common in the NBA, such as Misic bought out with the Bucks this year and successfully returned to Europe.

However, the development of the matter did not follow Valan's wishes. The Nuggets clearly told Valan that he would not buy out, that is, he would keep him in Denver - this may also show that the Nuggets could not attract Horford with the full middle class.

The final result shows that the two sides did not make a big fuss. On the contrary, the Nuggets also paid some price to stay in Valan and converted its 10 million non-guarantee contract into guarantee in advance.

So the final result of this transaction is: the Nuggets gave Saric, who had a contract of 1 year and 5.4 million, and got Valan, who had a contract of 2 years and 20.4 million.

How to say it? Considering that Saric was completely air last season, the Nuggets must have made a profit, but the premium risk is not lacking, especially after turning Valan's contract into a regular second year in advance.

We have to mention Valan's level. Last season, he played for the Wizards and the Kings, averaging 10.4 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 18.8 minutes per game, with a shooting percentage of 55.0%.

Valan's advantages are very obvious:

1. The attendance rate is very high. He only missed 1 game last season. He has only missed 4 games in the past three seasons. He has excellent offensive skills as an inside line, good finishing ability, can digest the ball, and high point efficiency. He can get close to 20+

3. He also has strong rebound protection. Last season, the backcourt rebound rate ranked second in the league, and the frontcourt rebound rate was also ranked 13th. However, there is a reason why Valanan can only play as a substitute. The main disadvantage is that his defense is too poor. Not only is he moving slowly, he cannot defend against pick-and-roll, and the frame protection effect is not good. This is also a deficit around Valanan's entire career.

Take last season for example. Valan averaged 10.9 shots per game, with his opponent's shooting percentage increasing by 2.5%, of which three-pointers increased by 8.4%, and 6 feet in the inside 3.8%, which can be said to be very bad.

Center is the most important defensive link for a team, and it can almost directly determine the upper and lower limits of a team. Not only can Varan not defend on the outside, but also has colander attributes in the inside, which is definitely a hidden danger.

However, the main reason why the Nuggets made a profit is that no matter what, Jokic finally has a substitute.

Since Plumley left the Nuggets, Jokic has not had a decent substitute. In the past few years, Jordan Jr. has been able to play in the locker room and has not been able to play most of the time. The playoffs are even more embarrassing.

Although Valan has defects in defense and his salary is tens of millions, he is at least a qualified substitute, a center who can really allow Jokic to rest occasionally -

Jokic must be praised here. He averaged 36.7 minutes per game in the regular season last season, the fourth highest in the league, and the playoffs is even more exaggerated, reaching 40.2 minutes. This consumption can be said to be very exaggerated for a big center weighing 128 kilograms.

It is worth mentioning that not only Jokic has found a substitute, but Gordon's substitute and last year's rookie Holmes II will also return next season.

Homes II is a sports forward with a similar style to Gordon. He suffered an Achilles tendon injury before the regular season last season. If he could return healthy, it would definitely be a good addition to the Nuggets.

Comprehensive operation of the Nuggets during the offseason, the lineup they can send next season:

—First Jokic, Murray, Gordon, Cameron Johnson, Braun

—Substitutes Valan, Holmes II, Watson, Strauser, Bruce Brown, Hardaway Jr. Objectively speaking, the Nuggets substitute lineup is still not enough in the West, but it is definitely better than last season. Last season, the Nuggets' rotation depth was so poor. Porter still had a shoulder injury, and still forced the champion Thunder into a tiebreak (the loss in the tiebreak is also the reason why Gordon was injured). Next season, there is reason to believe that the Nuggets can enter the championship ranks.

The most important thing is that this Nuggets has a peak Jokic - not to waste Jokic's peak. In terms of this, the Nuggets management has done a good job this offseason, which is much better than last year's Booth's three rounds + Reggie's air change. If Najib can continue to be disposed of, it would be even better.