Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic will not seek a contract extension this summer, delaying talks until next summer, a league source confirmed to ESPN on Tuesday.
Jokic has three years remaining on a five-year, $276 million contract extension he signed in summer 2022. The three-time MVP has a player option in the final year of the deal worth $62.8 million in 2027-28.
Jokic is eligible to sign a three-year, $200 million extension up until Oct. 20, according to ESPN's Bobby Marks. The first year of the extension would have replaced his player option.
By waiting until the 2026 offseason to work on an extension, the Nuggets star is able to add a fourth year at an additional $77 million, according to Marks.
Josh Kroenke, the Nuggets president, said the team will offer its franchise star an extension this summer but also understood how it could benefit Jokic to sign one next summer as well.
"We're definitely going to offer it," Kroenke told reporters recently. "I'm not sure if he's going to accept it or not, because we're also going to explain every financial parameter around him signing now versus signing later. To be completely transparent, that's the way we always are. And then he makes the best decision for himself and his family, and we'll support him in it."
The Nuggets have made several changes in the past few months in hopes of improving around Jokic. They replaced Michael Malone with David Adelman as head coach and replaced GM Calvin Booth with Ben Tenzer and Jon Wallace.
Tenzer and Wallace traded Michael Porter Jr. for Brooklyn's Cameron Johnson and agreed to deal Dario Saric to Sacramento for Jonas Valanciunas to back up Jokic. They also brought back Bruce Brown, who helped the Nuggets win a title in 2023, and signed Tim Hardaway Jr. in free agency.
The Denver Post first reported Jokic delaying extension talks until next summer.
