Denver Nuggets Nikola Jokic to wait until next summer for contract talks: reports

Sign up now: Get STs newsletters delivered to your inbox

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) controls the ball as Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams (8) guards during game six of the second round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs.

PHOTO: REUTERS

LOS ANGELES – Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic, eligible as of Tuesday for a contract extension, will wait until next summer to negotiate a new deal, the Denver Post and ESPN reported.

A three-time MVP, Jokic is eligible for a three-year, US$206.4 million contract extension, which Nuggets management has publicly said it would offer. However, the center could wait for a max contract worth US$285.4 million if he signs next summer.

Jokic, 30, has until Oct 20 to sign for the lesser total, per reports, or can continue to play the three years left on a five-year, US$276 million extension he signed in the summer of 2022. The final season, 2027-28, is a player option valued at US$62.8 million.

The player-option year would be replaced by a new deal, or he can wait until 2026 and add a fourth year at an extra US$77 million, per ESPN.

Contract negotiations could be shaped by factors such as salary-cap raises and incentives, but once next season starts, the contract cannot be extended until July 1.

“We’re definitely going to offer it,” Nuggets president Josh Kroenke told reporters recently of a contract extension this summer for Jokic.

“I’m not sure if he’s going to accept it or not, because we’re also going to