The Denver Nuggets and star point guard Jamal Murray have agreed to a four-year, $208 million contract extension that keeps the former first-round pick with the team through the 2028-29 NBA season, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
For months, there had been a lot of discussion about an upcoming extension for Murray. There were reports ahead of the Olympics that Murray and the Nuggets were close to a new deal, but the two sides were not going to finalize anything until after this summer's games.
Now, Murray is remaining in Denver for the long haul after helping lead the team to their only title in 2022 alongside three-time MVP Nikola Jokic.
Over the eight seasons he has spent with the Nuggets, Murray has battled through adversity to become one of the better scoring guards in the league. A torn ACL near the end of the 2020-21 season forced Murray to miss all of the following year, but the Nuggets leader was determined to come back stronger than ever in order to reach the ultimate goal of winning a championship.
When Murray returned to the court during the 2022-23 season, he proved to once again be one of the best scoring point guards in the NBA, and his heroics in the postseason next to Jokic helped lift the Nuggets to championship glory.
This past season, Murray continued to impress on the court, averaging 21.2 points and 6.5 assists per game while shooting 48.1 percent from the floor and 42.5 percent from three-point range in 59 total games. He did not qualify for any end-of-season awards or All-NBA honors as a result of crossing the league's new 65-game minimum participation rule.
A lot of the discussion surrounding Murray and the Nuggets this summer in regards to a possible contract extension was fixated on his performance at the Olympics for Team Canada, who failed to medal after being deemed favorites behind USA Basketball.
Murray struggled to carve out a consistent role for his national team, and he failed to score more than eight points while representing Canada. In total, he averaged just 6.0 points and 3.8 assists per game while shooting 29.0 percent from the floor for the Canadians. This led to a lot of talk about if the Nuggets were rethinking their original proposal to Murray this offseason and if they would potentially let him play through the final year of his current contract.
Ultimately, the two sides came to this new four-year, $208 million agreement before training camp, which reassures Murray that he is one of the faces of this franchise.
The Nuggets enter the 2024-25 NBA season as title favorites once again in what has become a very crowded Western Conference. The Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves remain threats at the top of the conference, and the Nuggets are going to have to dig deep in order to reclaim the championship glory, especially after losing veterans such as Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Justin Holiday, and Reggie Jackson in the offseason.
As long as Murray, Jokic, Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon are healthy, the Nuggets like their chances of potentially winning their second title since 2023.
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