The Nuggets gave Nikola Jokic what he wanted this offseason, adding the kind of depth the Oklahoma City Thunder boasted when they survived a seven-game second-round series with Denver on their way to winning the NBA championship.
The expected payoff isn’t just in a deeper rotation and fresher legs come playoff time, but also in a colossal contract extension for their superstar next summer.
Jokic bypassed the opportunity to sign a four-year, $212 million deal this summer because next year he can sign that same four-year extension for $293 million.
“I mean, I don’t think about it,” Jokic said. “I think those contract extensions come as a reward, as something that is natural to the sport. Especially in today’s NBA how you see how the salary cap is growing and everything.”
While Jokic, who is entering the third year of his five-year, $276 million supermax contract, didn’t directly say if he intends to sign the extension in 2026, he did say, “My plan is to be a Nugget forever.”
Jokic seems energized by the changes the Nuggets made this offseason, when they took the interim tag off coach David Adelman, replaced GM Calvin Booth with the duo of Ben Tenzer and Jonathan Wallace and added several veterans following the trade of Michael Porter Jr. to the Brooklyn Nets.
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“I mean, they definitely changed the team,” Jokic said.
Two seasons after winning their first NBA title, the Nuggets acquired sharpshooting wing Cam Johnson in the Porter trade that also freed up salary cap space to address myriad roster deficiencies.
They brought back Bruce Brown, who played a critical role in the Nuggets’ title run before cashing in as a free agent afterward. They also added another veteran in guard Tim Hardaway Jr. and traded for center Jonas Valanciunas to back up Jokic — and even play alongside him at times.
The Nuggets also get 2024 first-round pick DaRon Holmes back from a torn Achilles tendon that sidelined him as a rookie.
“Bruce is back. We won with him. Need to save his career again,” the Joker joked. “We have Cam and Jonas — we have a bunch of new guys. We have Holmes healthy. We’ll see. It’s a new energy, new beginning for us. Hopefully, we can do something.”
Brown, who signed with Indianapolis after the Nuggets’ championship parade and was quickly traded to Toronto, said he pined to return to Denver soon after leaving.
“Indy was great for me when I was there but it was only three months,” Brown said. “And once I got to Toronto we were on two different roads, right? They were rebuilding … and I was past that time. So, I think right away, as soon as I got there, I wanted to come back.”
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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