Three-time MVP Nikola Jokic has no want to depart the Denver Nuggets.
Jokic affirmed his dedication to the franchise at Denver’s season-opening media day. The Serbian star middle was requested if he’d signal a max extension subsequent offseason that might pay him near $300 million over 4 years.
“I do not take into consideration that. I feel these contracts, extensions come as a reward, as one thing that’s pure to the game, particularly in at present’s NBA with the place you see the wage cap goes,” Jokic, 30, mentioned Monday as he dominated out a seismic future transfer.
“My plan is to be with the Nuggets perpetually, in order that’s my reply.”
Denver drafted Jokic with the forty first general decide in 2014. He is averaged greater than 24 factors and 10 rebounds for 5 consecutive seasons and was named Finals MVP when the Nuggets clinched the 2023 championship, a franchise first.
The Nuggets are coming off a 3rd straight 50-win marketing campaign however have been routed in Sport 7 of the second spherical by the eventual champion Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder. They retooled Jokic’s supporting forged in the summertime by buying and selling Michael Porter Jr. — a cornerstone of the 2023 title group — to the Brooklyn Nets and parting with ageing guard Russell Westbrook, who stays unsigned.
Depth items DeAndre Jordan, Vlatko Cancar and Dario Saric not encompass Jokic within the frontcourt.
“There is a bunch of my associates that left — DJ, Russ, Vlatko, Dario — so I want to seek out some new associates,” Jokic joked Monday.
Denver’s largest addition, sweet-shooting energy ahead Cam Johnson, was the Nets’ second-leading scorer with 18.8 factors per sport in 2024-25. A well-known face, versatile ahead Bruce Brown, returned to the Nuggets after bouncing from Indiana to Toronto to New Orleans over the previous two seasons.
They will complement the returning core of Jokic, Jamal Murray, Christian Braun and Aaron Gordon, who helped Denver rank third in scoring final season whereas masking the squad’s defensive deficiencies.
“Your finest gamers need to demand what the vibe can be each day,” mentioned David Adelman, who enters his first full season because the Nuggets’ head coach.
“They cannot go right into a shell and solely fear about how they’re doing … They need to upkeep the group as a lot as I do.”
–Subject Degree Media
