Гурван удаагийн MVP Никола Йокич гэрээгээ сунгах эсэх асуудал нь Денвер Наггетсийн хувьд анхаарал татсан сэдэв болоод байна.
Марк Стейн болон Жэйк Фишер нарын мэдээлснээр, Никола Йокич энэ зун гэрээгээ сунгахгүй байх магадлалтай байгаа нь олон нийтийн дунд янз бүрийн таамаг төрүүлж байна. Хэдийгээр тоглогчийн гэрээнд 2027-28 оны улиралд 62.8 сая долларын цалин авах сонголт байгаа ч, тэрээр гэрээний хугацаагаа дуусгахад ердөө нэг улирал үлджээ. Эх сурвалжуудын мэдээлснээр, Йокич өнгөрсөн дөрөвдүгээр сард өөрийгөө үргэлж Наггетсийн тоглогч байна хэмээн илэрхийлж байсан төлөвлөгөөндөө одоо ч үнэнч байгаа бөгөөд багаа орхих хүсэлгүй байгаа аж.
Наггетсийн удирдлагууд долоодугаар сарын 6-ны өдөр хүртэл гэрээний асуудлаар албан ёсны хэлэлцээ хийх эрхгүй байгаа юм. Тэр болтол багийн зүгээс Миннесота Тимберволвст хожигдсон улирлын дараах бүрэлдэхүүнээ сайжруулах, ялангуяа бүтээлч бөмбөг залах чадвартай тоглогч хайх ажилд анхаарлаа хандуулж байна. Мөн Пэйтон Уотсон болон Спэнсэр Жонс нартай гэрээгээ шинэчлэх нь багийн санхүүгийн төлөвлөгөөнд чухал байр суурь эзэлж байгаа юм.
Бостон Сэлтикс багийн од Жэйлен Брауныг арилжаалахтай холбоотой үүссэн таагүй нөхцөл байдал нь Наггетсийн хувьд сургамж болж байна. Энэ шалтгаанаар Денвер Наггетс гол тоглогчдоо арилжаалахгүй байхыг эрмэлзэж байгаа ч Кэм Жонсон болон Аарон Гордон нарын асуудлаар ирсэн санал хүсэлтүүдийг анхааралтай судалж байна. Йокич гэрээгээ сунгах эсэх нь багийн ирээдүйн бодлого болон тоглогчдын бүрэлдэхүүнд нөлөөлөх гол хүчин зүйл болон үлдэж байна.
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In this summer of star player movement, where Giannis Antetokounmpo and LaMelo Ball have already been on the move and there are likely more moves to come, Nikola Jokić has officially entered the conversation.
Even if his inclusion ultimately proves to be premature.
In the wake of Marc Stein and Jake Fischer’s report on Saturday that the Denver Nuggets superstar is considering not signing an extension this summer, there was instant speculation about what it might mean. After all, the three-time NBA MVP has just one guaranteed season left on his contract and now finds himself in the same contractual situation as Antetokounmpo before his lack of a commitment compelled the Milwaukee Bucks to trade him to the Miami Heat. (Jokić has a player option worth $62.8 million for the 2027-28 season.)
Yet while that chatter will likely continue until there’s another long-term commitment from the 31-year-old, team sources tell The Athletic that Jokić is still signaling a desire to remain in the Mile High City past his current contract. Those sources, granted anonymity to speak candidly on the matter, say the Nuggets still have a great deal of confidence that Jokić’s stated plan to be “a Nugget forever” that was shared in late April remains intact.
Still, this situation will be worth monitoring until there’s some sort of final, formal resolution about Jokić’s future.
It was one thing when Jokić declined to do an extension last summer, as there was a gap of approximately $80 million (and one additional year) between the deal he could have signed then and the one available this summer. But this time around, as Jokić surely knows, the prospect of him not signing an extension again is the sort of thing that would make rival teams more hopeful that he was considering an exit.
The Nuggets are not allowed to discuss the extension with Jokić until July 6 and, per team sources, don’t yet have clarity about how he will handle it. In the interim, front-office co-heads Jon Wallace and Ben Tenzer are focused on improving a team that fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round in late April. More specifically, league sources say, the Nuggets are on the lookout for another creative ballhandler.
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But there is a fascinating financial factor to consider, too, as Denver wants to re-sign restricted free agent forward Peyton Watson and has been widely expected to shed salary in order to make that move more feasible. Denver also wants to re-sign 25-year-old small forward Spencer Jones. However, team sources say that there has been no mandate from Nuggets ownership to cut costs. As such, it remains to be seen how aggressively — or perhaps delicately — the Nuggets move forward.
To teams like the Nuggets that have previously proven to be championship-caliber, the Boston Celtics’ situation serves as a cautionary tale. Boston made a spirited push to land Antetokounmpo before he went to the Miami Heat, with All-Star forward Jaylen Brown known to be at the center of the Celtics’ offer. Now they face a challenging interpersonal dynamic with their star player because of the damage done by that information coming to light. The 29-year-old Brown, of course, is just two years removed from winning Finals MVP when Boston downed the Dallas Mavericks. But the Celtics are in ongoing discussions about trading him, in part, because there’s just no putting the toothpaste back in the tube.
The Nuggets, meanwhile, still have the same core of Jokić, Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon that won the franchise’s lone title back in 2023. And even if that isn’t the case by the time this summer ends, they’re smart enough to know that any unnecessary discussions about their most important players being on the move (outside of the untouchable Jokić) could have a similar effect on their locker room. With that in mind, league sources say they’re fielding calls for their players but not shopping them.
Rival teams consistently point to Nuggets forward Cam Johnson, acquired last summer in a deal that sent away Michael Porter Jr., as the most likely candidate to be dealt, in large part because the 30-year-old has just one season left on his deal at $23 million. Miami and Dallas are believed to be among the many interested teams. Gordon remains a beloved member of Denver’s group. He has a two-way skill set that is coveted and rare around the league, but league sources say the Nuggets are listening to offers for the 30-year-old who has missed significant time the past two seasons with injuries. To this point, however, league sources say that while there are a lot of teams interested in acquiring Gordon, that interest remains underwhelming to the Nuggets when compared to how they value him.
All of which takes us back to Jokić.
If he chooses to take his time on an extension, or perhaps not sign it at all, then the leaguewide perception will be that he’s applying pressure to the Nuggets to make significant upgrades. Or, worse yet for the Nuggets, that he’s plotting his way out. But no realistic star player targets have yet emerged, with the Nuggets’ reported interest in Brown unrealistic because of what they’re able and willing to offer. (The Celtics, per league sources, have been asking for up to four first-round picks; Portland is seen as the front-runner there.) The chance remains that Denver’s roster is tinkered with, rather than overhauled, and only Jokić knows how he might feel about the Nuggets’ state of affairs if that’s the case.
Like it or not, the only way to quiet this noise about his future in Denver is to sign a new deal.
