Well Denver Nuggets fans, it is starting to look like we can breathe a sigh of relief now.
The Denver Nuggets are getting serious about locking down their star big man of the future in Nikola Jokic.
As many know by now, the team plans to make him a restricted free agent. This means the Nuggets can match any offer another team may offer the Serbian sensation. Over the past weekend, reports swirled stating the Nuggets and Jokic plan to agree to a five year max extension worth about 146 million this summer.
This is terrific news for Denver Nuggets fans. This signals that the front office is not going to play with fire and risk losing their best player on the team. Jokic, who is coming off a year where he averaged a staggering 18.5 points per game along with 6.1 assists per game and 10.7 rebounds per game per basketball reference, seems to be happy so far in the Mile High City.
Could we see a rare case of a star player staying with a single team throughout his career? It has not been done often in the league, especially in today’s NBA.
Could Jokic be in rare company with greats such as Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitski and Kobe Bryant in terms of tenure? In my opinion, the franchise is going to do everything in their power to make that happen.
Even when he ages and is past his prime, the team will look to keep him as his character seems to be able to adapt and change roles whenever needed. In other words, he is not going to think he should be the go to option forever no matter where he is at in his career.
The man is largely responsible for making NBA basketball in the Mile High popular again. Not to mention, his attitude seems to suit the city perfectly. Who does not love his funny and awkward personality which seems to go along with his crafty and skillful passes?
Jokic has not even scratched the surface of his ceiling yet. That makes this move by the Nuggets one of their most genius, front office decisions in recent memory. There are still some NBA fans who have not heard of the Joker, but by next season, that will all change.
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Jokic is going to be a Nugget for a long time. Hopefully, this marks the beginning to a full Denver Nuggets tenure for the Serbian sensation.