As a team, the Denver Nuggets know exactly who they are. They’re the defending NBA champions, led by two-time MVP Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Aaron Gordon. They rely heavily on their starting lineup which is intact for a second straight season, which also features Michael Porter Jr. and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
Beyond that, the Nuggets have a lot of young unproven players and question marks. Each one of the Denver starters makes at least $14.7 million this season and is either under contract or has a player option for at least $15 million next season. No other player on the roster makes more than $5 million.
Of their $177,890,198 payroll for the 2023-24 season, the Nuggets have $151.8 million devoted to their five starters. This lineup helped the team win a championship last season and has them in a great position to compete for another one this season.
It’s hard to quibble with anything the Nuggets’ front office has done, or how they’ve spent their money and allocated their available assets. But just because they are the class of the NBA right now doesn’t mean everything is perfect.
And while they are in a great position to contend for a championship this year, they want to sustain that and build a dynastic team around Jokic that will be able to compete for championships for years as he ages.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the contracts of the five starters, rank them from best to worst, and analyze how they’ll age, and what their future with the Nuggets may look like.
Nikola Jokic, 5 years $270 million: Steal of the century
Calling Jokic’s contract a bargain is an epic understatement. He’s the best player in basketball by a wide margin. He’s the reigning finals MVP and is on pace to win his third regular season MVP award in four years.
He’s already an all-time great who has a chance to be considered a top 5-10 player in the history of the sport when all is said and done. Jokic is paid the maximum amount that was possible when he signed the deal, and still, he’s vastly underpaid.
There is almost no amount of money that would be equivalent value to what Jokic provides for the Nuggets. He’s the best and most important player in franchise history and he looks like he still has several prime years ahead of him.
This run could extend for the life of his current contract and the Nuggets could find themselves trying to build the next great NBA dynasty. The Joker will make just over $59 million in the 2026-27 season, then has a player option for $62.8 million in 2027-28.
It’s impossible to say what Jokic or the Nuggets will look like that far down the road, but there’s a good chance that he’ll still be one of the very best players in the league. The dollar amounts seem astronomical, but as the salary cap continues to rise, this deal could actually look even more attractive as it ages.
Simply put, the Nuggets are remarkably lucky to have a player like Nikola Jokic, and they’d be happy to hand him a blank check and pay him any amount he wanted.
Jamal Murray, 5 years $158 million: Incredible bargain
The Nuggets’ second star is also on an incredibly attractive deal. Jokic’s sidekick, and the second-best and most important player on the defending NBA champions makes just over $33.8 million this season and will make a hair over $36 million next season in the final year of his current contract.
It’s fair to assume Murray will get a substantial raise at some point between now and then as he has vastly outperformed his contract and proven time and again that he deserves to be paid like one of the league’s best.
Unfortunately for Jamal, contracts are partly determined by regular-season accolades and achievements. Murray has missed a lot of time with injuries, has somehow never made an All-Star team, and plays his best basketball in the playoffs.
This is all excellent news for the Nuggets and is a big reason why they won a title, but it has hurt Murray in the wallet. His deal this year is extremely affordable for a legitimate number two star on a contender, and on a truly open market, he’d immediately make considerably more money.
He’s still just 27 years old and his career trajectory seems to be pointing up. I’m sure he’ll get a massive contract for the remainder of his prime that may not end up being such a bargain by the end of the deal.
But that’s a potential problem only for the distant future. For now, Murray is beyond worth every penny he makes, and what he’s done for the Denver Nuggets has earned him every dollar he’ll make and then some.
Aaron Gordon, 4 years $86.6 million: Incredible bargain
This is yet another incredibly team-friendly contract for one of the most important players on a championship team. The 28-year-old Gordon makes just under $22.3 million this year, just over $23.8 million next year, and has a player option for $23.8 million in 2025-26.
It seems likely at the moment that Gordon will decline that option and look to get a new long-term deal for more money as he’ll be entering his age 30 season. But still, much like Murray, Gordon will have completely earned that payday as he’s playing now on a relative discount.
The $22+ million he’s making this year is relative chump change for an elite NBA role player on a championship contender. He has massively outperformed his deal and deserves the big raise he’ll almost certainly receive.
As long as they can afford it, the Nuggets should be happy to give Gordon another deal and keep him around as long as possible. He’s an impeccable fit for what the Nuggets need on both ends of the court, and his chemistry and two-man game with Jokic has become almost unstoppable.
He also seems very happy to play his role and do the little things that help make this team so great. He doesn’t seem to crave any more of the spotlight than he has, and just genuinely appears to enjoy filling his role and helping his team win by doing whatever it takes.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, 2 years $30 million: Incredible bargain
The fact that four of the Nuggets’ five starters have a contract that is considered at worst, a bargain speaks to why the team is so good and the starting lineup is so dominant. KCP has become an incredible NBA veteran who contributes to winning on both ends.
He’s a great glue guy who can credibly run the offense and play point guard or spot up and shoot open threes playing off the ball. He doesn’t have to be involved in the action, but he’s more than capable when called upon.
More impressively, he’s turned himself into an elite defensive player on the perimeter. He was an underrated part of the Lakers’ championship run in the bubble and it’s no coincidence that the team got much worse after trading him (and others) for Russell Westbrook.
Landing Caldwell-Pope from the Wizards was an incredible move by the Nuggets, as he fit like a glove, and proved to be a missing piece of sorts that helped push them over the top. He’s not the reason they won it all, but he was a big part, and I’m not sure they pull it off without him.
Having a player like that in the starting lineup making just $14.7 million this season is unbelievable value. He’ll have a player option this offseason for $15.4 million that he’ll most likely decline. He’s 31 years old and with the way he’s been playing, he should have the opportunity to cash in on one more big contract while he has some prime years left.
Hopefully, the Nuggets will be able to keep him, but I imagine there will be a big market for his services, as he’d be a great two-way fit on just about any team in the league, and if asked, could likely do much more than is necessary for Denver.
This may be another Bruce Brown situation where the player has simply performed too well and priced themselves out of the Nuggets’ future. That would undoubtedly be a shame, but it would be hard to begrudge the player, especially if he helps the Nuggets win two titles in two seasons.
Michael Porter Jr., 5 years $179.3 million: Nightmare
Okay, calling this contract a nightmare is definitely a little harsh, but relative to the rest of the starting lineup it’s the closest thing. MPJ is a fine player overall, a very good shooter, a solid rebounder, a good athlete, and a guy who has stepped up in some big moments. When he gets hot, he can look incredible.
But he’s also very inconsistent, can still be a bit of a liability on the defensive end, and if the shot isn’t falling he can struggle to find other ways to contribute. He’s the only player in the starting lineup who feels like he’s not necessarily locked into the closing lineup.
If he’s having a rough playoff game, I could see Michael Malone opting to finish the game with Peyton Watson or Christian Braun instead of Porter. But still, he’s just 25 years old and as a fifth starter, you could do a lot worse. He’ll likely never live up to the hype he had as a prospect (largely due to injuries), but he’s already proven to be a positive winning player helping contribute to a championship.
If he made less money there would be no issues whatsoever, it’s just the fact that he makes $33.4 million this season, $35.9 million next season, $38.3 million the following season, and then has a non-guaranteed $40.8 million for the 2026-27 season.
That contract is far from a killer, especially with all of the other bargain contracts in the roster, but it is objectively speaking, an overpay. With KCP, Murray, and Gordon all coming up for new deals in the next couple of seasons, the Nuggets may have to look at dumping MPJ and his contract to another team or risking losing one of their four best players to free agency - which would be a bit of a disaster.
So while this contract isn’t truly a nightmare, and Porter Jr. is a good NBA player, the deal could ultimately lead to the Denver front office being forced to split up the core of the team while still in their title window. Now that would be a nightmare.
Hopefully, it doesn’t come to that and the team can find a way to manage the situation over the next few years, but it’s certainly something to keep an eye on.