Anxiety ratchets up when it becomes harder and harder to make things make sense.
Six months ago, if you would have asked me about Nikola Jokic’s contract situation, I would have summarily dismissed anything other than him returning to the Nuggets with a bucket of new money.
Now?
I still think he will, but am nowhere near as convicted about it. Here are all the conflicting things in my head.
First, Jokic has said repeatedly that he wants to be a Nugget for life and that he will end his career with Denver.
Second, he is going into the next-to-last year of his current contract, and in fact can opt-out of the final year and become an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Third, his good friend, Luka Doncic, plays for an L.A. Lakers team that has financial room under the aprons as a foundation to start with for the 2028-29 season. They’d have to create much more room, but it’s not an impossible task.
Fourth, Jokic is also friendly with Toronto head coach and fellow Serbian Darko Rajakovic. The Raptors have space under the 28-29 tax and could create more.
Fifth, the bizarre circumstance with the team in Greece this summer calling the Nuggets to inquire about Jokic’s availability, then vowing to back up the Brinks truck to get him to leave the NBA after the upcoming season.
It’s a lot.
And it’s unsettling.
Unsettling, because things change. Intentions held today can be swayed tomorrow. Unsettling, because a chunk of this situation is now out of the Nuggets’ control. There are no contract years for the organization to play with. Because of the player option, the ball is completely in Jokic’s court.
Normally in circumstances like this there would be so much trade talk around the player because you cannot lose a talent like that and get nothing in return. It was exactly 30 years ago that another Nuggets center was allowed to walk out of the door and the team had nothing to show for it. That player was Dikembe Mutombo. They simply cannot have history repeating.
So, in this respect, the Nuggets have to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is coming back to them no matter what. It is mandatory. The stakes are extremely high.
And because there is no trade talk around Jokic to speak of, that is a calming circumstance.
Because all Nuggets fans want is for him to be here the rest of his playing days.