Denver's Cap Sheet Is Already Pricing In a Jokic Extension It Hasn't Signed
Denver is paying for a title window it already won, and the bill is due before Jokic's next contract even starts.
The Nuggets carry a $221.1 million payroll, above the NBA's $209.0 million first apron and closing on the $221.7 million second one. Five contracts account for most of that number, and three protected first-round picks already belong to Oklahoma City.
The Five Numbers Up Top
Jokic is owed $59.0 million this season, Murray $50.1 million, Gordon $33.7 million, Johnson $23.1 million and Braun $21.6 million. Beneath them sits real money too: Nnaji at $7.5 million, Spencer Jones at $6.0 million, Strawther at $4.8 million, Holmes at $3.4 million, Walker at $3.3 million, and DeRozan, Tyus Jones and Bagley each at $2.4 million. All of it adds to $221.1 million.
Next Season Already Has a Price
Next season is already partly written. Jokic's $62.8 million player option, Murray's $53.8 million salary, Gordon's $36.4 million player option and Braun's $23.3 million extension carry into 2027-28, alongside smaller player options for Nnaji at $7.5 million, plus Spencer Jones at $5.8 million and Holmes at $5.5 million. Little of that is likely to shrink before Jokic's own extension joins it.
Between Two Aprons
That figure clears the $165.0 million salary cap and the $200.4 million tax threshold alike, and sits past the $209.0 million first-apron trigger, though still under the $221.7 million second-apron ceiling that brings tighter trade rules.
Picks Owed, Extension Still to Come
Denver's 2027 first-round pick is protected and stays home, but the ones after it are not: 2028, 2029 and 2030 are each protected first-round selections owed to Oklahoma City, with second-round picks scattered to Utah in 2027, Washington in 2028, conditionally to Charlotte in 2029, and a swap in 2030. Jokic told Bennett Durando in September that he plans to sign an extension, with no terms reported yet. Any new number lands on a payroll already past the first apron, which is why the structure of that deal, not just its size, will decide how much room Denver keeps to patch the roster around him.
Are the Nuggets over the luxury tax this season?
Yes. Denver's $221.1 million payroll is above the $200.4 million tax threshold and past the $209.0 million first apron, though still below the $221.7 million second apron.
Which Nuggets draft picks are already owed to other teams?
Denver's 2027 second-round pick goes to Utah, its 2028 second-rounder to Washington, and its protected first-round picks in 2028, 2029 and 2030 are owed to Oklahoma City.
