Nuggets Executive Stays Optimistic About Nikola Jokic’s Contract Situation

· Yahoo Sports

Among the many unanswered question surround the Denver Nuggets this offseason, one the more worrying ones is how to handle the future of Nikola Jokic. 

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The three-time MVP was widely believed to sign a massive extension with the Nuggets this summer, especially after he decided last season to delay an extension until after the regular season.

The time came for Jokic to sign and he was eligible for a massive pay day that would have guaranteed him in Denver for the next few seasons, but then he gave the Nuggets the same answer that he gave them last summer: he wanted to delay the extension until after the upcoming season. 

It's a somewhat ominous sign for the Nuggets, who have remained successful but are finding themselves increasingly outpaced by other teams in the Western Conference, and it would be easy for most who heard the news to be worried about Jokic potentially leaving the Nuggets when his contract is up. 

Should the Nuggets Be Worried?

While he's guaranteed under contract for the 2026-27 season, he's up for a player option for the season after and the lack of an extension at this point makes his future uncertain. 

To Jokic's credit, he has continued to affirm his loyalty to the Nuggets and his desire to stay in Denver for a long time and it seems that the Nuggets front office isn't too worried either, as executive vice president of player personnel Jon Wallace expressed while on ESPN's Summer League broadcast.

“We feel confident. We trust him. … We’ve got no choice but to," Wallace said (via Bennett Durando). 

The end of Wallace's statement doesn't exactly inspire confidence and points to the seeming helplessness that the Nuggets have been projecting this offseason. 

The State of the Nuggets

They've been fairly quiet as far as free agency and trades go and they've yet to sign two of their most crucial role players Peyton Watson and Spencer Jones, despite the Nuggets singling out Watson as their primary target ahead of the offseason.

Such unsteadiness in the organization doesn't exactly indicate a rock-solid team, which is the kind of image that a franchise looking to extend their biggest star needs to project, and leaving it up to chance and stating that's the plan so publicly further illustrates a team that's sitting on it's hands in terms of major structural moves. 

They would be wise to shift that direction because even if Jokic has made verbal promises of his commitment to the team, this upcoming season will be one of change for many organizations and that could spread to the Nuggets as well before they know it. 

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