Breaking: Versatile Backup Forward Re-Signed by the Denver Nuggets
According to HoopsHype, Vlatko Cancar re-signed with the Nuggets on Saturday, meaning he will return for his sixth season in Denver.
Vlatko Cancar, a bench forward, had his option for the 2024–25 season declined by the Nuggets last Sunday, but a few days later, he returns. Cancar was actually going to make less than the league minimum on the option to extend his contract that he signed years ago because of a special quirk in the regulations. Denver will pay Cancar more money based on service as a result of the declined option and the signed new contract, but it will also actually pay Cancar less in terms of the wage ceiling and taxes. So, drafting a new agreement was advantageous to both parties.
Though Cancar was one of approximately a dozen players in the NBA who were unrestricted free agents, it was widely anticipated in the NBA that he would sign a new contract to remain with his previous team. Despite having the option to leave the Nuggets in free agency, Cancar chose to remain with them.
Cancar is a versatile player who has demonstrated success in the role he is returning to in Denver, despite the fact that he is not an exceptionally talented player and is recovering from an ACL rupture. Additionally, he may take on a more significant role, as he is now doing for Slovenia alongside Luka Doncic. Together, they competed internationally to advance their team to the Olympic qualifying event in Piraeus, Greece. In that competition, Cancar was playing in his first game since he suffered an ACL injury in an international exhibition game the previous summer. The squad narrowly lost to Greece in the championship game.
The 27-year-old played in 60 games for the defending champion Nuggets, scoring five points a night on 37% shooting from outside the arc, including a couple spectacular dunks, and he also had the ability to link many plays together. It’s obvious that the Nuggets missed the 6-8 guy on their second attempt. Although his primary position in the NBA has been power forward, he has also played the two, three, and five. Cancar would have taken up Jeff Green’s position as the backup power forward in 2023–2024. Denver’s rookie Peyton Watson had a good season in Cancar’s absence, but the club trimmed their bench early in the season, which could have added to the squad’s fatigue in the postseason.
Cancar is a very valuable addition to the Nuggets team, and Nikola Jokic and Michael Malone both have faith in him. The Nuggets, who want to use the forward as a ninth man, now depend on his recuperation during the remainder of this summer.
There is currently only one roster space available for the Nuggets to complete their lineup after they added backup center Dario Saric earlier on Saturday. They’ll probably go for a guard, and rumors have it that they’d prefer to use Russell Westbrook in that slot.
Leave a Reply