Nikola Jokic Could Sign Record $360m Nuggets Deal Next Summer
Insider Kevin O'Connor expects Jokic to stay in Denver, where a five-year deal would be the richest in NBA history, but the club must add talent.
Nikola Jokic can sign a five-year, $360m contract with the Denver Nuggets next summer, which would be the most expensive deal in NBA history.
O'Connor recalled Jokic's own statement that he wants to stay with the Nuggets for the rest of his career. "I believe him," O'Connor said. "Every source in the league I have spoken to over the years and in recent weeks has confirmed that nobody really expects Jokic to leave Denver."
He set out the numbers if Jokic did look elsewhere. "Jokic could sign with another club for $267m over four years, compared with about $278m over the same period in Denver. A team from a state with no income tax could narrow that gap. Denver's main financial advantage is roughly $82m guaranteed for the fifth year of the contract."
O'Connor also said the desire to stay should not make the Nuggets complacent. "It must not let them relax and waste another year of his peak form. They need to give him a supporting group that can turn this loyalty into another championship. And still, never say never. If the Nuggets cannot return to the ranks of title contenders, Jokic's best chance of winning might make him consider such a compromise."
If O'Connor's reading holds, the question in Denver next summer may be less about the contract than about the roster the club builds around Jokic before he signs.
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