Stationed in Burgos, Spain over 5,500 miles and seven time zones away from Denver, Vlatko Čančar’s lifeline back to the organization that made him the 49th pick in the 2017 draft was his cell phone.
Čančar’s hand-held device would light up after most of the games he played for San Pablo Burgos last season, like his 24-point, 5-rebound outing against eventual ACB League Champion Real Madrid last fall, or when he finished with 22 points and eight rebounds in a January matchup versus Valencia. On the other end of the line was Nuggets assistant coach Jordi Fernandez offering words of encouragement and advice to the Nuggets’ draft-and-stash prospect from across the Atlantic ocean.
“It was always easy to reach out to him and ask him how he’s doing,” Fernandez said. “I watched his games. I texted him not after every game, but after a lot of the games I watched. We’d talk. He’s part of our program. He’s a player that we believe in for our future. So I did it because I wanted to but also because I feel like we have to do it as an organization.”
Čančar couldn’t watch many Nuggets games last season due to the demands that come with playing in what’s largely considered the best league in the world outside of the NBA and the time difference. But Fernandez, who’s coached Čančar at Summer League each of the last two summers and is originally from Badalona, Spain, has been able to form a bond with the forward since he was drafted and keep him connected with the organization in case the Nuggets wanted to eventually sign him to their roster.
After averaging 10.2 points and 3.8 rebounds last season, numbers which landed Čančar on the ACB League’s list of its top-5 young players, and another strong performance at the Las Vegas Summer League, the Nuggets did just that. Denver officially signed Čančar to a three-year contract with a team option in the final season which will bring him stateside next season.
“My basketball dream came true, so all you that have a dream chase it, work hard for it,” Čančar wrote on his personal Instagram account after the deal became official. “Dreams are to be realized.”
Čančar’s path to the Nuggets began to form last year after Denver selected the Slovenian in the second-round in 2017. He arrived at Pepsi Center for Summer League a season later to little fanfare but quickly began to make an impression on Denver’s coaching staff with his attitude.
“He’s been a joy to coach,” Nuggets director of player development John Beckett, who’s coached Čančar each of the last two summers, told BSN Denver. “He always has a smile on his face. He’s a hard worker and very coachable. Any time you ask him to do something he tries his best to do it, and if he doesn’t understand it he’ll ask questions and try to get better at it.”
Čančar averaged 8.8 points and 4.3 rebounds at Summer League in 2018 and showed signs that his versatile skill-set, which includes a strong basketball IQ, would fit right in with Denver’s current roster around Nikola Jokic.
Last month in his second stint with the Nuggets at Summer League, Čančar posted similar numbers despite being hampered by an ankle sprain that he suffered in the lead-up to the Las Vegas showcase.
“I think he fits our team because of his IQ and how unselfish he is,” Beckett told BSN Denver. “He plays basketball the right way and doesn’t try to force anything. He’s a capable and improving shooter from 3-point range. He does a good job of cutting and slashing off the ball.”
“A couple of times during Summer League guys drove and he got to the open area. Or if he had the opportunity to cut because the guy who was guarding him turned his head, he cut behind the ball.”
A high level of understanding of the game — something Čančar has shown that he has over his last two seasons in Europe and with the Nuggets throughout the summers — is a near pre-requisite to playing in Denver. The Nuggets’ unselfish, equal-opportunity brand of basketball preaches continuous player and ball movement, and to be successful in it, players have to be elite at reading and playing off of one another.
Whether it’s Čančar’s experience abroad where for all his life he’s been immersed in the free-flowing European style of play, some of which is replicated within the Nuggets’ offense, or just an innate feel for the game, his unselfish and team-oriented approach shines through.
“I just try to be the best teammate that I can be,” Čančar said. “Just to connect the players on the court, I think that’s one of my qualities.”
It’s not just Čančar’s feel for the game that has Nuggets personnel excited about his potential. Čančar is also an improving 3-point shooter who shot 33% from distance last year in Spain and Denver believes he can eventually develop into a consistent long-range threat. He’s a more than capable ball-handler for a player who profiles as someone that can log minutes at both forward spots as well.
The joy Čančar plays with, his workman-like attitude and constant positive energy also stood out as soon as the 6-foot-8 forward slipped on a Nuggets’ practice jersey for the first time.
“Being a young player, you’re going to go through some ups and downs, you’re going to have some struggles, you’re going to have some good times,” Beckett told BSN Denver. “So it’s very important that when you’re going through those tough times you never get too down and Vlatko doesn’t seem like that type. When he does get frustrated he always seems to have a positive outlook on it.”
The road to playing time and meaningful minutes with the Nuggets next season is a daunting one. Denver is two or three deep at every position and will look to incorporate rookie Michael Porter Jr. into its rotation later this fall at training camp.
At the two forward spots, Čančar will begin the season behind a number of veterans including Will Barton, Paul Millsap, Jerami Grant, and Torrey Craig as well. But based on how he attacked his opportunities at Summer League each of the last two seasons thanks to words of wisdom from his countryman and Miami Heat point guard Goran Dragic, he won’t back down from any challenge.
The Nuggets are hopeful that Čančar will continue to improve, just as he did over the last two years. If he does, Čančar could follow in the footsteps of Jokic, Barton, Monte Morris, and Torrey Craig, who all were selected in either the second round or went undrafted but went on to blossom in Denver.
“I just became more of a professional than I was last year,” Čančar said. “As far as my confidence, it grew and all in all I feel like I’m a better player overall.”
