Nikola Jokic Is Expected To Sign A Supermax Extension With The Denver Nuggets This Summer, His Agent Says

When Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic won the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award last year, he became eligible for a $241 million supermax contract extension as soon as the 2022 offseason, a deal forecast to become the largest in league history.

Now, according to Jokic’s agent Misko Raznatovic, the Nuggets and Joker appear more likely than ever to be on track for making the extension happen.

Raznatovic recently guested on BasketNews’ Urbonus podcast with Donatas Urbonus to discuss a variety of topics, and it didn’t take long for him to chime in with some welcome music to Nuggets fans’ ears.

Regarding Jokic’s potential supermax deal, Raznatovic said, “According to our expectation, it should be signed this summer, an extension with the maximum amount, which he obviously deserves.

And in Joker’s case, the maximum would be maximal, likely becoming the largest contract ever in the NBA, and extending his guaranteed years with Denver through the 2027-28 season. If no deal were reached, Jokic would become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2023.

After Jokic won MVP last June, ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweeted a breakdown, based on a projected salary cap of $121.5 million in the 2023-24 season, of the annual salary on the supermax deal:

• 2023-24: $42.6M
• 2024-25: $44.9M
• 2025-26: $48.2M
• 2026-27: $51.5M
• 2027-28: $54.8M

With maximum contracts kicking in for Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. this season and last, respectively, and other guaranteed money on Denver’s books, most notably the four-year, $92 million extension for Aaron Gordon last season, the Nuggets are about to vault from a franchise which has stridently avoided paying the luxury tax for years (including this season) to having one of the more expensive rosters in the NBA.

According to salary figures at Spotrac, based on their currently-guaranteed salary, the Nuggets are projected to have the fifth-highest luxury tax bill next season at just over $14 million, though as more guaranteed salary is added to round out the roster, this will almost certainly increase. With a 2022-23 payroll which now stands at $155.7 million, Denver would be about $8.7 million over the projected $147 million luxury tax threshold, but even small additions to the payroll could balloon this number as teams get penalized more heavily the deeper they get into the tax.

While many NBA fans may find Jokic’s potential earnings under a supermax deal to be flat-out flabbergasting, it has been projected that increased league income from an anticipated $70 to $70 billion TV deal could skyrocket the salary cap to around $171 million by 2025, up from the current $111.4. In this case, Joker’s salary would remain at approximately the same percentage of the cap as it is now.

A supermax extension for Jokic is not set in stone as a guarantee, but it would be immensely more surprising if no deal were reached than vice-versa. Not only is it in every party’s best interest, but the relationship between Jokic, head coach Michael Malone and his staff, and the Nuggets brass continues by all accounts to be a happy marriage

As for how Joker might celebrate in the wake of a new extension, Raznatovic sounds fairly confident that the reigning MVP would not – in a manner perfectly in keeping with his personality – want to throw a big celebratory bash.

“I told him that if he signed another supermax that maybe we should do the party, Raznatovic said. “But he’s not sure that he wants to do it”

“Nikola is for the moment without decision about it, and knowing him and probably he’s not going to care for [a party] to be held, …just wants the paper to be signed.”

As undoubtedly do the Denver organization and the Nuggets Nation fanbase, who would love nothing more than to see Joker play out his entire career with the team and retire in a Nuggets uniform.