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The Denver Nuggets will not be signing superstar center Nikola Jokic to a contract extension this offseason.
Although Denver extended an offer to extend Jokic's contract for another three years and estimated $212 million, the three-time MVP declined, indicating he will enter the 2025-26 NBA season with three years and $177 million left on his current deal (including the $62.8 million player option for 2027-28). The move, while not what Denver would prefer, was not unexpected.
Even before Jokic officially became eligible for the extension this summer, Nuggets CEO Josh Kroenke expressed skepticism that Jokic would sign an extension due to the financial implications. With Jokic declining the deal recently, he, provided he avoids catastrophic injury, has enabled himself to sign an even better contract offer next offseason, when he will be eligible to tack on four years and nearly $300 million.
Still, it would not be incredibly uncommon for a front office or ownership group to work themselves up about the idea of their best player declining a lucrative extension. Despite that, there still appears to be no hard feelings on the Nuggets' side of things.
“No worry at all. It’s the smart move from his side, if I’m being honest,” a Nuggets front office executive said, according to Spotrac's Keith Smith. “He can lock in an extra year next year, which is the way to do it when you are in his position. Same offer, plus one more year, will be there for him a year now from now. He knows that, and we’re all on the same page.”
As stated, there is relatively little risk for a player of Jokic's caliber in holding off on signing an extension, particularly when he is in his early 30s. Although injuries can always play a factor — fellow star big man Joel Embiid has been an unfortunate case study for this — Jokic has remained remarkably healthy throughout his career, and the likely prospect of an additional year of high-dollar security is just the type of gamble the best players in the NBA are willing to take.
Jokic has won three of the last five MVP awards, finishing second in the other two years, and cemented himself as one of the greatest players in NBA history in the 2020s. In 2023, he led the Nuggets to the franchise's first-ever championship, being named Finals MVP in the process.
The five-year, $276 million contract extension Jokic signed in July 2022 will end in two years if he were to refuse an extension and decline his player option in the summer of 2027. He is set to earn $55.2 million this coming season and $59 million in 2026-27.
