Denver Is Already Paying the Price of Keeping Jokic
Jokic wants to stay, and extending him will finish a bill the Nuggets already started running up.
Jokic told Bennett Durando on September 28 that he plans to sign an extension, with no terms reported yet. Denver's payroll already sits at $221.1 million, above the $209.0 million first apron and closing in on the $221.7 million second, before that number grows.
What the money bought
Last season Denver finished 54-28 with the NBA's top-ranked offense and a 5.2 net rating, seventh in the league, built on continuity rather than turnover. The lineup of Jokic, Murray, Johnson, Watson and Jones posted a net rating of plus-20.1 across 171 minutes together, the clearest number behind a roster that works. Jokic said September 28 that he intends to sign an extension, telling Bennett Durando, "I'm going to sign next year." Keeping that continuity intact is the case for paying him whatever it costs.
What the money already costs
Denver's payroll already totals $221.1 million, above the $209.0 million first apron and approaching the $221.7 million second, against a $200.4 million luxury tax line. Jokic's own $59.0 million salary leads the books, with Murray at $50.1 million, Gordon at $33.7 million, Johnson at $23.1 million and Braun at $21.6 million behind him. An extension raises the largest number on a sheet that is already past the first apron before it starts.
What's already gone
The picks that would normally fund a second plan are largely spoken for. Denver keeps its 2027 first-round pick, but the first-rounders in 2028, 2029 and 2030 are protected and owed to Oklahoma City, with second-rounders split between Utah, Washington and a conditional one to Charlotte, plus a 2030 swap. There is little draft capital left to retool around an extension if it goes wrong.
The answer
Denver should sign him anyway. A plus-20.1 net rating lineup and the league's top-ranked offense are not common, and the apron math only gets harder if Jokic leaves without an extension and a rebuild has to happen from worse draft position. The bill is real, but it was always coming. What matters is that Denver pays it for a core still producing at this level, not for a memory of one.
Will the Nuggets re-sign Nikola Jokic?
Jokic told reporter Bennett Durando on September 28 that he intends to sign an extension, though no contract terms have been reported yet.
Are the Nuggets over the luxury tax apron?
Yes. Denver's payroll sits at $221.1 million, above the $209.0 million first apron and closing in on the $221.7 million second apron.
