The Denver Nuggets have a big question sitting in the background, even if nobody around the team wants to turn it into a crisis: what happens if Nikola Jokic decides to keep the door open on free agency?
That possibility exists because Jokic passed on a contract extension in each of the past two offseasons. This summer, he could have locked in a deal worth up to $278 million over four years, but instead he chose to wait until next summer, when he becomes eligible for a historic five-year, $359.5 million contract.
If this is all about maximizing money, the logic is simple. But the choice also keeps Denver in a place it would rather not be - one where Jokic can control the timeline.
Without an extension, Jokic could opt out of his player option for the 2027-28 season and become an unrestricted free agent next offseason. That is not the expectation, and nobody is suggesting he is on the verge of forcing his way out. Still, the Nuggets have to live with the reality that the option is there.
Jokic has given the franchise every reason to believe he’s committed. He has repeatedly said he wants to spend his entire career in Denver, and he continues to trust the front office to handle the roster. Even after the Nuggets lost Peyton Watson last month, Jokic said they’ll miss him, but "it's gonna be okay."
On a recent episode of The Athletic NBA Daily podcast, Sam Amick pointed to the one scenario that could make this situation much more complicated.
"What if the Nuggets absolutely [s--t] the bed this season? Then where's his head going to be?
Is there a limit to his Nuggets loyalty? His on-record comments have consistently been that he wants to play his entire career in Denver," Amick said.
"... Losing Peyton Watson, the books-they're trying their best-but the books are pretty messy in terms of the tax situation.
It doesn't look great ... We've got to monitor Joker."
Amick wasn’t reporting that Jokic is headed anywhere. He was laying out the kind of collapse that could change the conversation if Denver were to have a disastrous 2026-27 season. The Nuggets are still expected to be competitive in the Western Conference, but if Jokic starts to see no real championship path, that’s where the concern would begin.
The whole thing has drawn comparisons to Giannis Antetokounmpo’s situation with the Milwaukee Bucks, which eventually ended with a trade to the Miami Heat. But that comparison only goes so far.
Antetokounmpo had been pressuring Milwaukee for years before the split. Jokic has not done that to Denver.
If anything, he has stayed steady in his support of the organization.
So yes, the possibility is there. But it would take a lot for this to turn into a real summer storyline next year.
For now, the Nuggets’ job is clear: keep Jokic convinced they can still chase championships over the next six years. If they do that, this whole conversation probably stays hypothetical.
In Other News...
Nuggets Just Added A Rookie Fighting For A Real Rotation Shot
Denvers roster shuffle this offseason has already made room for a few fresh storylines, and the latest one comes in the form of a rookie who will get a chance to prove he belongs. With training camps set to open in late September and preseason on the horizon in early October, the Nuggets are lining up the pieces for the 2026-27 season after a spring that included the trade of Peyton Watson for draft picks and the addition of veteran DeMar DeRozan.
Bryce Hopkins is now part of that mix, giving Denver another young player to monitor as the team sorts out its rotation and developmental pipeline. The two-way contract means he can be around the Nuggets while also spending time with the Grand Rapids Gold, which gives the organization flexibility and gives Hopkins a real runway to make a case for more than just a spot on the fringes. For a team with postseason expectations, those back-end minutes can matter more than they first appear. [Read more 🡒]
Nuggets Still Face One Big Bench Question After A Shaky Offseason
The Nuggets spent the offseason trying to patch up a second unit that took some real hits, with Watson, Hardaway Jr. and Brown all gone from a bench group that had been a useful part of the rotation. In response, Denver brought in Marvin Bagley III and DeMar DeRozan and used the draft to add Trevon Brazile, betting that a mix of size, experience and versatility can help stabilize the minutes when the starters sit.
The idea is clear enough: the Nuggets wanted more ways to survive the non-Jokic stretches and enough pop to keep pressure on opponents even when the rotation turns over. But the bigger question around this group is whether the new pieces can actually solve the one issue that has lingered through the offseason, because Denver still needs at least one of these additions to become a reliable answer rather than just another flyer on a roster looking for dependable bench production. [Read more 🡒]
Nuggets Salary Cap Delay Could Cost Denver More Than Expected
The Nuggets are staring at one of the NBAs harsher financial realities, and the cost of staying there could reach well beyond the tax bill. Denver is over the leagues second-apron threshold, which puts the front office in a narrow lane for roster-building and leaves the team with fewer easy ways to maneuver if it wants to keep its current core intact.
What makes the situation trickier is the draft-pick math. Denver has only a limited number of first-rounders it can move, so cleaning up the cap sheet may require parting with more future draft capital just to get under the line. The Nuggets have seen this kind of bookkeeping before, and other teams around the league have used the same approach, but the real question now is how much long-term flexibility Denver is willing to sacrifice to avoid the harsher penalties waiting on the other side. [Read more 🡒]