Nuggets fans can stop panicking! What the Jamal Murray contract means for the team

One of the biggest but quietest stories of the recent NBA offseason has become the contract extension - or lack thereof - for Jamal Murray of the Nuggets. Shams Charania reported the four-year max was essentially a done deal months ago, yet nothing had happened since.

In that time, Murray had another injury-riddled playoff run, then a very underwhelming Olympics for Team Canada. Meanwhile, there was no traction on contract talks and it seemed that Murray and the Nuggets may have been at odds as he left for Paris.

Then Murray returned and had been training with the team, but there was still no deal. With each passing day, it became a bigger issue as Murray was set to enter the final year of his contract. He’d be a liability to leave for nothing in the offseason as a free agent and he had already become the center of trade rumors and speculation.

Nuggets and Murray agree to four-year, $208 million max contract extension

Things had almost reached a point of panic for Nuggets fans but finally, on Saturday the deal got done. Murray and the Nuggets agreed on a four-year, $208 million contract that will keep Murray in Denver through the end of the 2028-29 season and pay him $244 million over the next five years.

It’s the ending to a short but bizarre saga as this went from a non-story to a major one seemingly overnight. The owners were being labeled as cheap, and there are rumors about the coach and GM being at odds, but at least now there is a certain level of steadiness with Murray and Nikola Jokic locked up long-term.

What does the Murray extension mean for the Nuggets?

This deal means that the Nuggets are all but locked into the team they have for the next few seasons and the rest of Jokic’s prime. They’re going to go for it with a veteran core of Jokic, Murray, Aaron Gordon (more on him in a second), and Michael Porter Jr. And they are supplementing that group with recent draft picks Christian Braun, Peyton Watson, Julian Strawther, and DaRon Holmes. 

They can make changes on the margins and swap different minimum players in and out like Russell Westbrook, Dario Saric, Reggie Jackson, Justin Holiday, and DeAndre Jordan. But barring a trade involving a core piece, the rotation players on the team are locked in.

The next big domino becomes Gordon who has a player option for the 2025-26 season which he’s likely to decline. He’s eligible to be extended on September 7th and the Nuggets would be wise to get that done quickly. That would be a good deal for Gordon and if he left they would have no means to replace him.

The Nuggets are locked into an expensive, but competitive core. They’ve made a bet on their young players to develop, and if it hits, this team should be in the mix to win titles for the next few seasons, which is all you can ask for as a fan.