In an interview with Serbian television that aired this week, Nuggets center Nikola Jokic expressed a desire to spend his entire career in Denver (Twitter link). The interview was filmed before the start of the season, but Jokic’s connection to the city and the team have likely gotten stronger in the wake of his MVP-caliber season.
Jokic has two more years on his current contract, paying him $31.58MM next season and $33.62MM in 2022/23. He will be 28 when he reaches free agency, and the Nuggets will almost certainly make a max extension offer before then, especially with Jamal Murray having the only significant salary beyond those years.
“When I came to Denver I said that I would love to be Denver’s Tim Duncan, because he played his whole career in San Antonio,” Jokic told RTS. “God willing, I would love to play my whole career in Denver.”
There’s more on the Nuggets:
- Damian Lillard is putting up historic numbers, but the Nuggets hold the lead in their series with the Trail Blazers because Austin Rivers and Monte Morris have been able to neutralize CJ McCollum, writes Sean Keeler of The Denver Post. Morris, who got a three-year, $27MM extension in December after starting his career as a two-way player, said he has come a long way since his first postseason experience in 2019.“I had nightmares before every playoff game, my first playoffs,” he said. “That’s why I bust my (backside) and work hard, whether I’m here or off the Ball Arena premises. Just because I don’t ever want that feeling again. It was a hard feeling. A hard pill to swallow.”
- With Murray unavailable for the playoffs, Denver needs more production from Michael Porter Jr., and he able to deliver in Game 5, writes Mike Singer of The Denver Post. Using his size advantage over the Portland wings, Porter shook off two sub-par games and posted 26 points and 12 rebounds in the double-overtime victory. “Michael’s way too talented of a player to have two games like that, back-to-back,” coach Michael Malone said. “I just told him how proud I was of him, and he goes, ‘Hey coach, I gotta do that every night.’ And he’s right, he does. And he understands that.”
- Will Barton and PJ Dozier will both miss Thursday’s Game 6, Singer tweets. Barton is dealing with a strained right hamstring and hasn’t played since April 23. Dozier is sidelined with a right adductor strain.
All four playoff series in the West have been great so far, even with Memphis on the verge of elimination. Portland should have a decent chance of forcing a game 7.
I’m a fan of Jokic and the Nuggets, and even I don’t think Jokic will spend his entire career in Denver. And Timmy D is a bad comparison, as he was a defensive wall. Jokic is…not (but still great).
My guess is that Jokic will get traded to play with Doncic at some point – unless Denver can somehow get Doncic to play in the Mile High city. But one way or another, I’d bet those two spend time on the same NBA team.
That’s so racist
It’s not racist. Jokic is Serbian, while Doncic is Slovenian.
Maybe. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion.
Bottom 3 commenter
How is it racist? Most importantly, they’re both good friends off the court. But second, their home countries (Serbia for Jokic and Slovenia for Doncic) were both once part of the same country (Yugoslavia), so it stands to reason they’d also bond over shared culture.
@rct:
They like each other, yes. But that they were part of the same country doesn’t mean anything. Lots of Croatians, Serbians, Bosnians etc. hate each other (I know people from all of these countries). Even though Slovenia seems to be relatively neutral.
I don’t agree that this is in any way racist, though. I don’t even know how one can come up with such an idea. Would it be racists if I said Dennis Schröder and Daniel Theis would like to be teammates? (They are good friends and already were teammates in Germany).
@Dirkules: regardless of whether or not some residents of ex-Yugoslavian countries hate each other, Doncic and Jokic do not, and can bond over similarities in their culture. I didn’t say they’d like each other solely because their countries used to be one. Just that they have similar cultures (grew up 300 miles from one another).
I don’t think a bunch of hate-filled former Yugoslavians have any bearing on their relationship.
LOL why? Jokic and Doncic are close personal friends.
Also, if you log out and log in and comment like you’re three different people, they can tell by your IP.
While it’d be amazing to watch Doncic and Jokic play on the same team. I’d rather have them stay on the Nuggets and Mavericks and have them continually fight it out for the 2 and 3 seed behind the Jazz in the west for years to come.
I think they are best apart. That way visions don’t compete.
Superstars don’t get traded unless they ask. Unless you’re talking about in the twilight of his career and then who knows who would want him depending on his skill set. Bigs generally don’t age well. I don’t think even Jokic was comparing his skill set to Duncan just that he’d like to play for one team. Really none of your hot take makes any sense.
Lol, what. The Duncan comparison was brought up by Jokic because Duncan played in one city his whole career. You read that part?
Aside from them two being in very good personal relations, their Yugoslavian roots don’t actually set them apart (as it happens a lot ’round these parts), because Dončić’s father is Serbian, and Luka himself – even though a proud Slovenian by birth – doesn’t shy away from that. For example, he speaks fluent Serbian language and listens to Serbian folk and patriotic music.
As for whether their playing styles would mesh… I believe they would, since Jokić has shown to be quite adaptible to different roles. Their team would need to surround them with strong defenders, though…
Portland needs more balance on the floor, and someone to guard the guard spot. Cant let Monte Morris score like that, as much as I’ve been a fan of him, and letting Austin Rivers do anything is even worse. 1 of Powell or CJ should be off the bench, and curious to see how they use a couple of their wings that havent played
Jokic’s game will age well.
Him and Luka together isn’t necessarily a recipe for success. Both best with the ball. It’s a weak defensive pairing too.
My son’s a Nuggets fan and I am a little envious as a Knicks fan. Porter, Jokic and Murray all young and improving. If the Nuggets don’t win a chip in the next 3-4 years, I would be surprised.