Right around a year ago at this time, things were starting to unravel for the Denver Nuggets. They went just 8-7 in March as a potential championship season was seemingly getting wasted with inconsistent effort, poor defense and organizational in-fighting. As a response in April, the Nuggets fired head coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth. They had a strong showing in the postseason, pushing the eventual-champion Oklahoma City Thunder to seven games in the second round, but some eyebrows were raised when Nikola Jokić elected not to sign a contract extension afterward.
This was primarily a financial decision. At the time, he was eligible for a three-year extension worth an estimated $212 million. By waiting another year, he could tack an extra season and a projected $81 million or so onto an extension, making it financially prudent for him to wait.
Of course, this is the NBA, so rumors started flying. Jokić’s friend Luka Dončić had just been traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, and they, by all accounts, planned to preserve max cap space for the summer of 2027. Meanwhile, in Milwaukee, another homegrown MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo, was languishing on an underwhelming Bucks roster and capable of reaching free agency in 2027, potentially setting up an another potentially lethal partnership should Jokić reach the open market. With a number of teams preserving cap space, including big-market teams like the Clippers, Nets and Heat, Jokić would have no shortage of desirable options if he decides to explore that free agency next summer.
He shot down the idea of leaving in October, when he said he planned “to be a Nugget forever,” and on Sunday, he reiterated that stance in an interview he gave the X&O’s CHAT podcast. The interview is almost two hours long and not in English, but in quotes translated from Serbian by DNVR Nuggets, Jokić indicated that he has no intention of leaving the Nuggets. When asked if he could imagine himself playing for another team, he said “I wouldn’t like to imagine that.” While Antetokounmpo has spoken openly about his desire to win a second championship and how that supersedes his preference for remaining in Milwaukee, Jokić took the opposite approach. “Even if we never win anything else after this, an organic title, it means more to me than anything,” he explained.
Ultimately, his connection to Denver is bigger than basketball. “I really found peace here,” Jokić said. “My two kids were born here. Everyone’s here. Peace, home, I found my life here. And I like life here. I don’t feel the need, I don’t have the urge to. We built something here, together as a team.”
Jokić is currently under contract for the 2026-27 season, and then has a $62.8 million player option for the 2027-28 season. A year ago, the math was straightforward. With the cap expected to rise by 10% annually, he would decline his 2027-28 option and simply re-sign at 35% of a significantly increased cap. However, ESPN’s Bobby Marks reported last July that the cap is only expected to rise 7% next season, and if that is the case for the 2027-28 season as well, Jokić would actually make slightly more by picking up that option and extending on top of it.
The difference, though, is relatively minor in the grand scheme of things. Instead of the $293 million he was projected for last summer, he’d instead make closer to $282 million between the 2027-28 and 2030-31 seasons. Until we know final cap numbers, though, this is all projection.
Regardless, Jokić finds himself in an enviable position. A midseason injury will likely cost him a real shot at a fourth MVP honor (Jokić has the second-best odds as of this writing, at +900 on FanDuel, but can only miss one more game and retain eligibility). But Jokić is still in the only NBA city he’s ever known, playing for the only team he ever hopes to play for. That team is 39-25 and a relatively safe bet to at least secure a top-six playoff seed in the Western Conference despite a rash of injuries to virtually everyone on the roster, putting Denver in a strong position to compete for Jokić’s second championship if the Nuggets can just get healthy in time.
Whether they do or don’t, he is set to lock in a whole lot of money for himself if he extends this summer. As fun as those Jokić-Dončić fantasies might have been, Jokić has once again indicated that he will indeed be a Nugget for life.
