Nikola Jokic, the highest paid in NBA history: this is the fortune he will earn

Nikola Jokic is one of the few one-club men in this NBA in which business increasingly prevails more than feelings in view of the few men left from a single team. But, paradoxically, this loyalty will pay off for the Joker in view of the pasture he will pocket next summer.

He triple MVP, His contract expires in June 2027, and he is eligible for a five-year, $360 million extension, which would make him the highest-paid player in history. With such a great signing, Jokic will surpass the record renewal of another of the few men from a single club left, Jayson Tatum who renewed with the Celtics for 314 million and 5 years in 2024.

And the Joker confirmed that he is not going to let such a juicy opportunity slip away.

“I’m going to sign next year… if they want me,” said the center of 31 years on the Nuggets’ Media Day with a silence in between. Like those silences between questions, because even the journalists who know the Joker best never know where he’s going to come out.

But, although I sometimes keep my words short, what cannot be reproached inside is that he is not frank, as when he responded about why he will wait until next year to renew.

“Business,” said Jokic, who, the rascal, has refused to renew his contract up to two times last summer and the one that just ended until the fruit was very ripe.

With this extension, the Serbian will remain in Denver at least until 2032, when he will have 37 years. He will have spent 17 years with the Nuggets, where he joined in 2015.

“You want to leave a legacy,” Jokic said, speaking of the value of playing a lifetime for the same franchise. “I always like to say that when I came here there were not many people in the stands and we grew, we won a championship (in 2023) and we still have the opportunity to compete at the highest level to win a championship. For me it is a legacy, you want to be legendary and remembered,” explained the interior, who barely shares that loyalty to the same franchise with other superstars like Stephen Curry Devin Booker or the aforementioned Tatum among active players.

The big question is whether these Nuggets can add at least one more championship to get more juice out of Nikola Jokic’s prime, since they have been far from repeating since that title in 2023. Denver was eliminated in seven games in the Conference Semifinals against the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2024 and the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2025, but nothing as disappointing as a new elimination against the Wolves in first round last year with a 4-2.

Part of it was the injuries of Aaron GordonSpencer Jones and Peyton Watsonwhom the Nuggets have not been able to retain for financial reasons to see him leave for Cleveland.

“If we stay healthy hopefully we can do a much better job to somehow be more prepared, or more than prepared, more reliable,” Jokic said.

However, the focus of criticism was also on the Denver duo formed by the Joker himself and Jamal Murray between the defensive weakness of one and the lack of offensive reliability of the other. The Wolves found a vein in attacking Nikola Jokic with space, leaving in the air the question of whether in this NBA in which a defense with a player as rough and slow as the Joker is played faster and faster is sustainable no matter how much his offensive dominance is beyond any doubt.

Although Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Having won the last two MVPs, it is indisputable that the most influential offensive player remains the Joker due to his multiple ways of impacting the game. Last season, the Serbian averaged numbers of 27.7 points, 13 rebounds and 10.7 assists with 57% in field goals and 38% in triples with a volume of 4.5 shots.

The Nuggets have made several tweaks to their roster this summer, highlighted by the additions of veteran star DeMar DeRozan and Marvin Bagley III to replace Jonas Valanciunas as Jokic’s backup center after his departure to Zalgiris Kaunas.

For its part, a former object of Real Madrid’s desire, Lonnie Walker IV, arrives from Europe from Maccabi Tel Aviv and Alpha Diallo from Monaco after being elected Best Defender in the Euroleague. A good entourage for the Joker, who owes the Nuggets another ring or, at least, brings them closer. The best contract in history with those 360 ​​million is well worth it.