First, it was Jalen Brunson. Then, it was Victor Wembanyama. Now, it's Stephen Curry. After Curry just extended with the Golden State Warriors on a two-year, $116 million deal, saving the team about $10 million per year according to ESPN's Bobby Marks, it has now become a "superstar trend" to take a little less money per year to give their teams extra room against the constraints of the salary cap to build a better team around themselves. Denver Nuggets fans might want Jokic to do the same, but it seems unlikely that he will follow in their footsteps.
Brunson started the trend with the New York Knicks by signing a four-year, $156.5 million extension a year early. Had he waited one more season, the max deal would have been for four years and $207.8 million. He saved the Knicks over $12 million per season, and it helped result in the Knicks' first NBA Championship in 53 years.
Wembanyama followed suit this summer and signed a five-year, $252 million extension with the San Antonio Spurs, leaving $51 million on the table. He, too, saved the Spurs about $10 million per season to have extra flexibility in roster construction.
Jokic can sign for less, but he doesn't have to
Jokic delayed signing his contract extension this year so that he could add an extra year to his extension next year and sign for five years instead of four. That's the simplest explanation for waiting, unless he, for whatever reason, goes rogue and goes back on his word about wanting "to be in Denver for the rest of his career."
The biggest reason for adding that fifth year is a whole lot of extra guaranteed money. Jokic is eligible to sign a five-year, $359.5 million contract. Plus, if he waits until next summer, he can decline his player option, not extend his contract, sign a new contract with the same terms, and add a no-trade clause to the deal. Which seems to be what all signs point to. Jokic should be taken at his word that he'll be a Nugget for the rest of his career.
But if he does take the 35% of the salary cap per-season maximum deal, he'll be helping to keep the Nuggets in a tough roster construction situation. And as a team that has been notoriously cheap in the past, he's handcuffing himself out of a better chance to win with better talent around him.
But that would also be putting faith in the franchise to spend that extra $10 million or so per year wisely. And he's under no obligation to sign for less. So look for Jokic to take the money and the no-trade clause so he can make sure he spends the rest of his career in Denver.
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