All signs point to Nikola Jokic signing a new long-term max contract deal with the Denver Nuggets this summer. He’s made it clear he wants to remain in Denver.
But does that mean that the Joker wants to be here for the long haul, regardless?
Despite losing in the first round of the NBA playoffs, Jokic reaffirmed his desire to stay in the Mile High. “I still want to be a Nugget forever,” he stated. Most everyone believes him. Plus, he has $278 million reasons to stay put… as in a four-year, max contract extension he can sign this summer.
Now, he could decide not to sign the deal, exercise his player option worth a reported $62.8 mil and become a free agent after next season – if he wanted to.
So you’re sayin’ there’s a chance?
In almost every case, offseason rumors are little more than talk-show fodder, and that’s very likely the case with talk about Joker wanting to play for the Lakers at some point. Laker fans are jumping on the idea of Joker wanting to play with his buddy Luca Doncic, matching it up with LA’s most recent front office and payroll moves and talking themselves into the notion that Joker not only won’t sign his max extension, but that he’ll take less money to become a Laker for the 2027-28 season.
Whatever. We’ll check back with that group after Joker re-signs this summer.
In the meantime, there’s all sorts of speculation about what kinds of changes the Nuggets can and will make to their roster this summer. Will Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon and the rest be back? Will they allow Peyton Watson to leave town as a restricted free agent? Will they make the kind of trades that are for the now, in Joker’s prime, rather than just a salary dump to avoid a big luxury tax?
And what will happen first, roster changes or Joker’s new contract?
If you’re Joker, you want to see what significant changes the front office will make to the roster before you re-sign, right?
What if Denver can’t – or won’t – make impactful roster changes? What if they decide they should run it back with the guys they have, presuming everyone will somehow stay healthy? Would that be sending the right signal to their best player?
Any kind of salary dump would be telling Joker that winning isn’t worth the tax bill, and you have to imagine he wouldn’t be keen on hearing that.
So maybe, just maybe, the three-time MVP would allow his thoughts to wander west a bit?
Nuggets management has not given any indication as to what they are going to do roster-wise. They didn’t hesitate to bring back novice head coach David Adelman. You have to believe that Joker was on board for that. Otherwise, the end-of-season press conference was less than informative. So as the summer begins, we’re all still kind of flying blind.
But make no mistake. The onus is squarely on the Denver front office to make the kind of substantive changes that will show their best player that staying on board is the right thing to do. If not, then maybe the summertime rumor mill won’t be so far off after all.
