Report: Nuggets plan to give Nikola Jokic a 5-year max deal

The Denver Nuggets are about to make star center Nikola Jokic a very rich man.

The Denver Nuggets found a gem when they selected Serbian big man Nikola Jokic with the 41st pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. Because of his second-round status, the Nuggets had Jokic on an ultra-cheap deal as he blossomed into a star, and they could have had him for just $1.6 million for the 2018-19 season. Instead, Denver will decline his team option to make the center a restricted free agent before rewarding him with a five-year, $146.5 million maximum contract, according to Yahoo Sports’ Shams Charania.

While giving Jokic his max deal now eliminates some flexibility and will take the Nuggets into the luxury tax for next season, it makes sense to take care of him and not worry about him hitting unrestricted free agency in 2019. Exercising that team option and paying him peanuts once again, or even playing hardball in restricted free agency, could have caused problems that led to his exit.

Jokic has certainly earned his max deal as the centerpiece of the Nuggets’ revival. After a stellar rookie season, he broke out in his sophomore campaign and developed into one of the most versatile offensive big men in the league. This past season, the 23-year-old averaged 18.5 points, 10.7 rebounds and 6.1 assists while shooting nearly 40 percent on 3-pointers as Denver just missed the playoffs. Russell Westbrook was the only other player in the league to reach the 18/10/6 threshold.

Jokic has his defensive faults, but running the offense through him has resulted in one of the league’s most powerful attacks the last two seasons. The Nuggets have one of the brightest young cores in the NBA, and they could become a borderline elite team if they can get their defense to average levels.

Jokic’s new deal will give Denver an expensive roster for next season:

Valuable sixth man Will Barton is set to become an unrestricted free agent, and the Nuggets would surely like to have him back. But if Denver isn’t willing to go deeper into the tax, salary will have to be offloaded elsewhere. Kenneth Faried ($13.76 million), Wilson Chandler ($12.8 million) and Darrell Arthur ($7.46 million) are all trade candidates, but it may require an asset to move them. The Nuggets have been trying to trade Faried for a while now, to no avail.

Next: 20 best free agents available

The good news is all three of those contracts come off the books no matter what in 2019, while Paul Millsap has a $30.5 million team option for 2019-20, opening up more flexibility for Denver. The Nuggets are in position to contend for the playoffs for the foreseeable future, and locking up their prized big man is a key step toward securing that successful future.