Jonas Valanciunas stepping away from NBA, will play next season in Lithuania

A year ago, there were reports that Jonas Valanciunas wanted to negotiate a buyout with Denver so he could sign with Greek side Panathinaikos, except that the Nuggets didn't want to let their primary backup to Nikola Jokic walk.A few weeks ago, the Nuggets bought out Valanciunas, and that has opened the door for the veteran big man to head home and play for Lithuanian side Zalgiris Kaunas, the team announced. There had been conflicting reports in the last 48 hours about whether he had signed the