NBA Milestone: Nuggets Poised for Unprecedented $419 Million Signing, Says Analyst

According to Bryan Toporek from Bleacher Report, Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokić could potentially sign the NBA’s first $400 million contract in 2028. This possibility arises due to the anticipated increase in the salary cap driven by the NBA’s new television deals.

These TV deals significantly affect the salary cap and player contracts. Fortunately for Denver, the team has some time before Jokić’s salary becomes a larger financial commitment.

Jokić signed a five-year, $276 million contract that extends until the 2027-28 season. He has a player option for that final season, which means he could choose to become a free agent as early as 2027.

According to Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal, the NBA is close to securing a $2.8 billion deal with ESPN, an estimated $2.5 billion deal to return to NBC, and a $1.8 billion deal with Amazon. These agreements are expected to push the NBA’s total media deals to over $7 billion.

“Industry sources believe ESPN will ultimately pay $2.8B annually — though other industry sources insist it is still an earlier reported $2.6B — for the league’s ‘A’ package, which includes the NBA Finals, a conference final, weekly primetime games, the WNBA and likely shared international rights,” Friend detailed in a May 22, 2024 story titled, “NBA formalizing deals with Disney, Amazon, NBC.”

“NBC’s proposed ‘B’ package is believed to be worth between $2.5B and $2.6B annually and would probably include a ‘Basketball Night in America’ or ‘Sunday Night Basketball’ following the NFL season, a total of two primetime windows a week, conference semifinals and a conference final,” Friend added.

“Amazon’s deal is believed to be worth between $1.8B and $2B and would likely include the Emirates In-Season Tournament, the SoFi Play-In Tournament, first-round playoff games, the WNBA and international rights.”

Due to the increased revenue from the league’s television deals, the salary cap is expected to rise significantly. Keith Smith from Spotrac has analyzed the projected figures for the salary cap starting in the 2025-26 season when the new media deals commence.

“Some fun numbers! The NBA getting $7B per year for media rights will likely lock in 10% cap growth (that is the max the cap can go up) per season starting in 2025-26,” Smith detailed in a May 22 message on X. “If so, the cap will top $200M in the 2028-29 season. A 35% max salary that year projects to be $72M. The fifth-year salary on that max deal? $95M. Total value of that max deal? Five years, $419M.”

Nuggets Rumors: Nikola Jokić Could Sign a 5-Year, $419 Million Contract

Jokić could become the first player to secure a $419 million deal, but he would need to complete the final season of his contract in 2027-28. Here’s what would need to occur for Jokić to sign a five-year, $419 million contract as his next deal.

“Jokić is guaranteed under contract until 2026-27 and has a $62.8 million player option for 2027-28,” Toporek explained in a May 23 article titled, “Ranking the Wildest Salaries and Contracts NBA Superstars Could Get Over the Next 5 Years.” “If he declined that player option, he would be eligible for the same five-year, $381 million extension that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander might sign in 2026-27.”

“In the unlikely event that Jokić picks up his 2027-28 player option, he could sign the NBA’s first $400 million contract. 2028-29: $72,253,335 2029-30: $78,033,602 2030-31: $83,813,869 2031-32: $89,594,135 2032-33: $95,374,402 Total: $419,069,343.”