The Toronto Raptors have a reason to keep one eye on Denver over the next year.
Nikola Jokic is under contract for just over $59 million in the 2026-27 season, and he also holds a player option for 2027-28. That means he could hit free agency as early as next summer, giving teams around the league at least a theoretical opening if his future with the Nuggets starts to shift.
Jokic has spent his entire NBA career in Denver. In 11 seasons, he has made eight All-Star teams and helped deliver the Nuggets’ 2023 NBA championship. But the picture in Denver looks a little less settled after the team failed to get out of the first round this past season for the first time since 2022.
If Jokic is looking for a different direction, Toronto could be a place that makes sense.
There’s already a possible connection in the building. Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic is one of only three European coaches currently in a head coaching role, and he recently spoke very highly of Jokic in an interview. That kind of mutual respect matters, especially when a player of Jokic’s caliber is deciding whether he wants a new home.
Of course, the biggest question is whether Jokic would even entertain leaving Denver, where he has played since 2015. That would be the first domino, and it’s the one Toronto can’t control.
What Toronto can control is its need at center. Jakob Poeltl is the starter heading into the season, but he is going into his 30s and his play dropped sharply last year. The Raptors are tied to his contract in a way that limits flexibility, though they could still use him in a backup role if the roster broke the right way.
Getting Jokic would require an enormous haul. Any deal would be the kind of swing that empties the chest of assets. Even so, Toronto would likely be among the teams willing to at least figure out what it would take.
If that kind of move ever happened, it would look more like the Giannis Antetokounmpo situation this offseason, when Antetokounmpo asked for a trade to the Miami Heat and the Bucks sent him there in exchange for multiple players and future draft picks.
It would be a massive gamble for the Raptors to chase Jokic for what could be only a couple of seasons in his 30s. But it’s the sort of gamble that could change everything and finally push Toronto back to a championship, which it last won in 2019.
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