NBA: Nuggets allow Jokic option to expire

The Denver Nuggets do not want to take the option with Nikola Jokic and instead want to bind the center to them for the long term with a five-year contract.

Jokic will now become a Restricted Free Agent and is expected to sign a $146.5 million contract with the Nuggets in the Free Agency starting July 1. That’s what Yahoo Sports reports.

If the franchise had taken their team option with Jokic, the 23-year-old Serb would have become an unrestricted free agent for the 2019 season. In this case, a departure from Jokic would have been very likely. The sports portal reports that the nuggets are already in advanced talks with Jokic and his consultants about a contract extension in the Free Agency.

Drawn 41st by the nuggets in the 2014 draft, Jokic is considered one of the best and most versatile centres in the league because, despite his height (2.08 metres), he has an exceptionally good hand from downtown (39.6 per cent) and good ball handling.

In the past season, Jokic played an average of 18.5 points, 10.7 rebounds and 6.1 assists in 75 games, almost leading the nuggets into the playoffs. In the final game of the Regular Season, however, the Nuggets lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves and missed the post-season for the fifth time in a row.