As promised, Vlatko Čančar is checking in with another blog. Here’s what he had to say:
The trade deadline was something my national team teammate Goran Dragić told me about when I finally joined the NBA at the start of the season.
“You’ll start to see guys looking at their phones a lot,” he said.
With so much happening at the start of my time in Denver, moving to another country, adjusting to a new team and teammates, I didn’t really think anything of it at the time. But he was right.
The new year came around and sure enough, there wasn’t a single player in our locker room who wasn’t paying attention to potential moves around the league. And it ramped up as the NBA’s trade deadline of Feb. 6 got closer.
It is really different from what players deal with in Europe. There are no trades in the European leagues. Not a single one.
In leagues like Spain’s Liga ACB, where I last played, player movement is very similar to what is done in soccer on the continent. Players get transferred, meaning sold between clubs. When a player is sold, his contract is essentially torn up and a new one is drafted. It’s a system that allows players to move sometimes from team to team in the same league or between countries in different leagues, essentially. Occasionally, you might also see a player go on loan, which means his parent club will permit him to play for another club to get more playing time, but no trades.
When this year’s trade deadline came in, it was surreal to see everything unfold in real time. I had ties with Malik Beasley, Juancho Hernangómez and Jarred Vanderbilt so it was tough to see all three leave in a trade on Feb. 4. Malik, I played with in my first summer league and was helpful in that transition. Juancho and Jarred were close friends, so they will be missed in the locker room. There were also some immediate challenges with the roster.
We were dealing with injuries to several players when the trade happened and lost three rotation players after the first game of a back-to-back. With paperwork still being finalized, it would mean we’d only be able to dress seven eligible players. That, however, leads to my favorite memory as an NBA player.
I’ve played in 14 NBA games in my rookie season and being part of the “Magnificent Seven” win against the Jazz on Feb. 5 easily stands out as the highlight so far. Despite being shorthanded, there was a quiet confidence about this game. The Nuggets hadn’t won in Salt Lake City since 2013, but the team was calm heading into the matchup – we were all locked in. There was Jamal Murray, Nikola Jokić, Gary Harris, Jerami Grant, Torrey Craig, P.J. Dozier and myself and we fought to the end. When we escaped with a 98-95 win, it was one of the best experiences I was able to be a part of. And, of course, if you’re a Nuggets fan, you’ve probably seen the famous picture of us on the plane back home. It made waves in Slovenia, though most people back people home just thought we had seven players on the team!
It was a valuable learning experience and I’m happy to say I’ve had a lot of those in my first season in Denver. This has been a good year to learn as much as I can about the NBA. Some might ask what the experience is like going from a player who had established minutes in Spain to one who has to prove himself in the NBA. But for me, even my stints in the G League with the Erie BayHawks are invaluable.
I appreciated having a chance to go to Erie, Pa. and gain some confidence during my time there. I really enjoyed working with the coaches and players. Everyone accepted me with open arms and were super helpful. In the first couple of games, I was trying to get my rhythm and fit in. But then my teammates and coaches were like, ‘Go for it!’ All of a sudden, everything changed and I started to play well.
For me, I look it at this way: My minutes aren’t coming by themselves, I have to earn them. The more I pay attention to detail and improve, the easier the NBA is going to be when I do get more opportunities to play.
Well, that’s all I have you Nuggets fans this week. I hope you’re staying safe through these times and I hope this blog provided some entertainment. Thanks for reading!
As told to Alex Labidou.