TITLE: Jokic Envisions Lifetime Stay in Denver After Nuggets Overhaul Roster
SLUG: jokic-envisions-lifetime-stay-in-denver
CONTENT:
DENVER — Nikola Jokic said Thursday he intends to spend his entire career with the Denver Nuggets, expressing excitement over an offseason that reshaped the roster and positioned him for a massive contract extension next summer.
“My plan is to be a Nugget forever,” the two-time MVP told reporters on Oct. 2, 2025. Jokic, 30, elected not to sign a four-year, $212 million extension this offseason because the same deal will be worth $293 million if he waits until 2026. He is entering the third season of a five-year, $276 million supermax signed in 2023.
Denver’s front office and coaching moves were equally sweeping. David Adelman shed his interim label to become head coach, while Ben Tenzer and Jonathan Wallace replaced Calvin Booth as co-general managers. The team also traded forward Michael Porter Jr. to the Brooklyn Nets, acquiring sharpshooter Cam Johnson and opening salary-cap room to add veterans.
The revamped roster now features the return of swingman Bruce Brown, a key contributor to the Nuggets’ 2023 championship run, along with guard Tim Hardaway Jr. and center Jonas Valanciunas, who is expected to spell Jokic and occasionally play beside him. Rookie center DaRon Holmes, the club’s 2024 first-round pick, is back from the Achilles tear that cost him his first season.
“They definitely changed the team,” Jokic said. “Bruce is back. We won with him. We have Cam, Jonas—new energy, new beginning. Hopefully we can do something.”
Brown, who left as a free agent in 2023 before stints with Indiana and Toronto, said the desire to return surfaced quickly. “Indy was great for me when I was there, but it was only three months. Once I got to Toronto, they were rebuilding and I was past that time. Right away, I wanted to come back,” he said.
The Nuggets hope the deeper bench will keep starters fresher after last season’s seven-game second-round loss to the eventual champion Oklahoma City Thunder. For Jokic, the immediate goal is another title run, followed by the opportunity to sign the four-year, $293 million deal that would keep him in Denver through 2030.
Source: ESPN
