The offseason is full of twists and turns, but one bit of rock solid foundation that Denver Nuggets fans have come to rely upon is at least showing signs of strain.
According to a report on Saturday from Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of the Stein Line Substack, Nikola Jokic is weighing his options with regard to a max contract extension with the Denver Nuggets.
Jokić informed the Nuggets around this time last year that he preferred to delay contract extension talks for another year.
The Stein Line has learned that it is under consideration again this summer: Electing to take the same step and holding off on extension talks.
Jokic has taken the first available max contract opportunity the Nuggets presented to him in each of his previous negotiations. The Nuggets gave Jokic a significant max extension in 2018, and in 2022, Jokic made an immediate commitment to the Nuggets with another max contract extension during Calvin Booth’s first offseason running the show.
Now, after three MVPs, a championship and Finals MVP, and three straight seasons of disappointing playoff finishes, Jokic appears to be a bit more cautious this time around.
Last offseason around the same time, Jokic and the Nuggets agreed to push his contract negotiations until the following offseason under the premise of being able to offer Jokic more money and a larger contract, a three-year, $215 million extension in 2025 vs a four-year, $280 million extension in 2026. That was the explanation given, a perfectly reasonable one.
Now, the Nuggets can offer that extension, a $70 million per year contract and more money on an extension than any other team. There’s nothing preventing the Nuggets from verbally agreeing to that contract and then officially signing the deal on July 6th after the League Moratorium lifts.
If Jokic and the Nuggets don’t agree to that deal relatively immediately, it will cause concern within the Nuggets fan base.
Of course, it’s important to note the Nuggets front office’s perspective in this. Josh Kroenke, Jon Wallace, and Ben Tenzer have consistently projected confidence that Jokic will sign his extension. Ben Tenzer, Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations, specifically commented on willingness desire to extend with the Nuggets:
“We just can’t comment on [extension negotiations] because of the league rules. But you’ve heard what he said about his happiness here, and we feel really comfortable with that relationship.”
If Nuggets fans take that quote at face value, then all will be well eventually; still, Jokic saying he wants to be a Nugget forever and him actually committing to sign the extension are two different things.
There has been nothing reported on the why of Jokic potentially delaying his extension, only speculation. Is it leverage being applied to the Nuggets front office and ownership group to force them to be aggressive and spend into the tax? Is it a specific issue Jokic has with the Nuggets that may or may not be rectified this offseason? Is he simply taking his time before making the commitment while overseas with the Serbian National Team?
There are no specific answers; however, the report from Stein and Fischer continues in its explanation on Denver’s offseason goals:
League sources say that the Nuggets, meanwhile, are indeed actively pursuing trades to try to strengthen their star’s supporting cast.
As reported here previously, Denver is exploring the trade market to both reshape the roster around Jokić but also to create additional financial flexibility to match any offer sheets tendered to restricted free agent Peyton Watson.
Retaining Watson remains a clear goal, but so is the financial flexibility. The Nuggets are unlikely to pay the second apron, and that’s causing ripples within the Nuggets roster. As explained previously, the Nuggets are going to find it difficult to stay under the second apron without trading one of Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, or Cam Johnson for significantly less salary.
Stein and Fischer go on:
The Stein Line reported earlier this month that Aaron Gordon is generating the most trade interest among Denver veterans. It is believed that the Nuggets would prefer to trade Cam Johnson or Christian Braun rather than Gordon or Jamal Murray, but it is not yet clear if they can assemble a trade that both assures Watson’s return and strengthens Jokić’s roster.
Sources say that the Nuggets have at least internally discussed whether they have the asset wherewithal to join the trade chase for Boston’s Jaylen Brown, but the Nuggets have yet to emerge as a bonafide landing spot for the Celtics’ MVP candidate.
The possibility of entering the Jaylen Brown sweepstakes is interesting; however, it appears unlikely the Nuggets would be able to make that trade without the Boston Celtics having interest in Jamal Murray as a star running mate with franchise forward Jayson Tatum. Perhaps that fit makes sense, but it’s on Boston to determine such a thing.
The Nuggets are unlikely to interest Boston in a package that doesn’t include Jokic or Murray, as Denver has zero first round picks to trade and only Aaron Gordon, Cam Johnson, and Christian Braun as matching salary. Perhaps Boston could be swayed into a deal that features Gordon, Johnson, a couple young players like DaRon Holmes and Julian Strawther, and swaps; however, Boston can probably find better deals on the trade market from the Portland Trail Blazers and other teams interested in Brown.
So, the Nuggets are at an impasse. They can trade one of their larger contracts, even Christian Braun, but they’re unlikely to also improve the roster at the same time if they’re intent on freeing up salary for Watson underneath the second apron.
If the Nuggets were willing to go into the second apron, then there would be less pressure being applied to Denver in general. They would be able to afford Watson and retain a strong supporting cast. They would signal to Jokic that they’re willing to spend to compete with the likes of the Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, and Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference.
If the Nuggets are unwilling to spend and even have designs to get out of the luxury tax entirely, that would involve selling off almost all of the players around Jokic and Watson that previous won a championship together in order to get cheaper. That’s, undoubtedly, a roster situation that Jokic would like zero part.
And thus, the contract extension delay.
So, what will the Nuggets do? What will Jokic do? Nobody truly knows yet, and most of the reporting comes from speculation of Denver’s intentions from around the league.
This piece with Jokic though: it’s very important. Jokic has very rarely wielded his power in the Nuggets organization as leverage for the Nuggets to be better. This is what the best player in an organization is supposed to do if there are championship expectations but also present fears that those goals aren’t being met. The Nuggets have had several disappointing runs, and Jokic himself has stated that the team simply wasn’t good enough last year.
Lastly, here’s Executive Vice President of Player Personnel Jon Wallace on Jokic saying the team wasn’t good enough last year:
“I think for your leader to say that, you can’t deem a problem until you acknowledge it as a problem, and he did that.”
“I think anytime you get bounced in the first round like that, everyone has got to look themselves in the mirror. I think a large part of that is health. I think a lot of that is, as our team has entered into a more seasoned state individually, the type of basketball we play, the way guys prepare, the way we attack teams, is going to have to change a little bit.
“And I think our guys were able to have that opportunity to communicate amongst themselves what’s going to be needed from them this summer.”
So, the Nuggets know they have to change. They know Jokic isn’t perfectly happy. They are unlikely to get more expensive based on ownership’s history of paying the luxury tax.
It sounds like change is afoot for the Nuggets organization, and fans will have to hope those efforts are geared toward retaining Jokic at all costs.
Time will tell.
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