(Basketball news) Denver Nuggets have extended the reigning MVP Nikola Jokic’s contract for five years on a contract which makes the Serbian recipient of the largest and most expensive contract in the history of the NBA. The team signed Nikola Jokic on a five-year extension worth $264 million. His contract begins in the 2023-24 NBA season and will continue through 2027-28 when Jokic has the option where he could earn roughly $60 million. The Serbian star has undergone a meteoric rise in his seven NBA seasons with the Nuggets.
He came into the league in 2012 and became an All-Star in his fourth season and since then he has stayed at that level. He has gone on to win the MVP trophy in each of the last two seasons after averaging 26.4 points in 2020-21 and 27.1 points this past season. This season he won MVP votes that haven't exactly been close; Jokic was atop roughly 75% of the ballots cast for that award over the last two seasons. The 27-year-old is coming off one of his finest seasons and created a new category as he became the first NBA player to eclipse 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 500 assists in a season. Jokic also averaged 13.8 rebounds and 7.9 assists for a Denver team that was missing two stars in Jamal Murray (ACL recovery) and Michael Porter Jr. (back).
Jokic helped the Nuggets to a 48-34 record and the No. 6 seed in the West, where they eventually lost to the NBA champion Golden State Warriors in the first round. The organization has undergone extensive changes since the end of the season, with the departure of the president of basketball operations, Tim Connelly, to the Timberwolves. Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth, who orchestrated a trade that sent guards Will Barton and Monte Morris to the Wizards for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Ish Smith. The team also traded away JaMychal Green and a 2027 protected first-round Draft pick to Oklahoma City for Peyton Watson and two future second-round picks. Provided everyone’s healthy, it means a starting five of Murray, Caldwell-Pope, Jokic, Aaron Gordon and Porter could well be on the cards.
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