Nikola Mirotic Signs With Valencia for Rest of Season

While talk in Podgorica and Belgrade had Nikola Mirotic returning to the Balkans to put on a Buducnost jersey, he chose something else entirely: staying in the EuroLeague, just in a different uniform.

Valencia confirmed today, September 15, that Mirotic is their new signing. According to Tanjug, the contract runs through the end of the 2026/2027 season. Telegraf’s report does not specify the length of the deal, only that it has been signed, closing out a story that had been developing since the end of last season.

The move came after Mirotic had already parted ways with Monaco and become a free agent. Telegraf cites the French club’s financial troubles as the reason for the split, while Novosti puts it more simply, writing that he had “finally found a new club” after weeks of speculation about where he would continue his career. He had only joined Monaco in 2025, so his time there lasted a single season before the split.

Last season’s numbers explain why Valencia went after him in the first place. Playing for Monaco in the EuroLeague, he averaged 11 points and 1.4 assists per game. The rebounding figures vary by source: Tanjug lists his average at 4.4, while Telegraf and Novosti report 4.3. Novosti also notes that he played 31 games that season, a figure neither Tanjug nor Telegraf mentions.

According to Telegraf, Buducnost from Podgorica had also shown interest in signing him, hoping he could reinforce their ABA League roster. Mirotic, however, prioritized staying in Europe’s top club competition. He also came close to a return to Barcelona, Novosti writes, but the financial terms did not work out, so the search for a new club continued until the agreement with Valencia.

He was born in Podgorica but built his career in Spain and represents the Spanish national team rather than Montenegro’s. He has played for Real Madrid, then for Chicago, New Orleans and Milwaukee in the NBA, before returning to Europe with Barcelona and Milan’s Olimpia, and then joining Monaco last season. Valencia is now another stop in a long senior career that has taken him across two continents.

His new club finished last season’s EuroLeague with a Final Four appearance and is counting on the experienced forward-center to raise the team’s level just as the rosters that advance to the playoffs start to make the difference. The signing was officially announced on the club’s Instagram account, the usual channel these days for every major EuroLeague transfer, before the club’s official statement reaches the domestic media.

For Mirotic, this is also something of a homecoming: the country where he grew up as a national team player, just under a different crest on the jersey. Real Madrid and Barcelona taught him to play under the pressure of big arenas, and Valencia is now banking on that experience before the EuroLeague even starts counting his points and rebounds in what will be his thirteenth season.

A thirteenth season in Europe’s top competition is no small thing, even for a player who has gone through Madrid, Barcelona and three NBA clubs. Valencia has gained a name the whole league knows, but the real answer will only come once the roster faces its first serious test of the new EuroLeague season.