Insider drops BOMBSHELL Nikola Jokic Update...

Nikola Jokic has said that he plans on signing an extension with the Denver Nuggets and has never once said that he wants to leave. So why didn't NBA Insider just say something completely different? As Tim Kawakami just said, I've been hearing this for a little while. It's an open thing. It's an open thing. He's very likely to go back to Denver, but leaving is an open thing right now. And he added that there is nothing guaranteed about him going back to sign a long-term extension with the Denver Nuggets. Look what he did not say. He did not say Jokic is leaving. He said likely, but a guy who says open thing twice in one breath and then says there's no guarantee he returns is telling you something. And more importantly, Jokic is telling us all something right now. So here's the question this video answers. Is Jokic actually staying in Denver? He said he wants to. The money tells a story here. The league is already circling. There's teams that are interested in Jokic, and one piece of this should make every Nuggets fan a little bit nervous right now. It's no secret that the Denver Nuggets have not been a great team ever since winning the NBA Finals. They've been a perennial playoff team. They've been a contender in every sense of the word, but it doesn't change the fact that they've had their fair share of struggles over the last couple of seasons and got bounced in the first round this year. Their team got worse after that, And frankly, Nikola Jokic is clearly getting frustrated. And guys, right now the Nuggets only have a 3% chance on Kalshi to win the 2027 NBA Finals. And if they don't even come close, then yeah, Jokic is going to request a trade. But if you think they're going to come close or win it, well, then Kalshi is the place to go. Because guys, on Kalshi, you are trading directly against other users, not the house like traditional sportsbooks. You're buying yes or no contracts on the outcomes of events across sports, politics, and even the weather For example, the Nuggets winning on that 3% chance of winning the NBA Finals in 2027. If you are to trade $25 on that, you can get a payout of over $750. It's a great deal for you if you do believe in the Nuggets. And if you're interested in trying out Kallister, click the link in our description. It's also in our pinned comment. And sign up using code DIGESTNBA to get $55 when you trade your first $25. Again, great deal for you. I do want to thank Kallister for sponsoring this video. Now, let's get back into Jokic Talk. And let's start with the man himself in Jokic. Jokic has not been vague. In July, after a FIBA World Cup qualifier, he said this in Serbian, my idea and desire is to stay in Denver. I'll probably sign next year. Then he went further and said, my desire is to play the rest of my life in Denver. That is as clear as it gets. But I want you to notice the first quote that says probably. Then came media day on September 29th. He repeated the plan, and this time added a condition, if they want me, and obviously the Nuggets do. So this is what he has said. He wants to stay, his plans are to sign next summer, and he wants to be wanted. Remember that last part. And then, I've been more than open about it. Hopefully they trust me. He also explained his loyalty, saying, I was here when we basically were a so-so team and when we won a championship. That is real loyalty. But loyalty and a signature are not the same thing. So hopefully they trust me. The best player in the world is asking his front office to believe in him. That is a strange sentence. Keep it in your head because it does explain the next part. And guys, quick note before we get into the money here. We are building Nuggets Digest towards 5,000 subscribers and we are at 4,104 right now. If this video is worth your time and you want more Nuggets updates every single day, then make sure to hit subscribe to help us get to 5K before the year ends. Now, overall, one of the biggest reasons for re-signing is, well, frankly, it's money. Jokic has been eligible since June 14th to negotiate a four-year $278 million extension. He has not signed it. If he waits until the 2027 offseason, he can sign a five-year $359.5 million contract. Bobby Marks says that would be the largest deal in NBA history. And would bring his career on-court earnings to $724 million, basically nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in NBA earnings. Waiting is not a power move against Denver. It's an $81.5 million difference. And the Nuggets reportedly understood the delay to be financially motivated. Per year, that is $69.5 million on the four-year deal against $71.9 million on the five-year deal. The yearly gap is small. The real gain is the extra year and the bigger total because it adds up. Think of it like a house you love. You're not leaving it, but you'd be crazy to sign the papers before the price jumps to $81.5 million. This is not new either. Last summer, Josh Kroenke said the Nuggets would offer an extension about three years and $212.5 million. And he said this, I'm not sure if he's going to accept it or not because we're also going to explain every financial parameter. So two summers in a row, he's been eligible. And two summers in a row, there's been no signature, no fight, no trade demand, just a pattern. And patterns are what makes insiders start saying it's an open thing. Now, here's the catch. His current deal has a $62.8 million player option for 2027-2028 to sign that bigger deal. He has to decline at first. That's the door Kawakami is talking about. Stay on the contract or open the door to other opportunities as well as trying to sign an extension with the Nuggets. Walking through that door does not mean not leaving. It means free agency, and that means every team gets a phone call, which brings us to the next part about the teams who are circling. Remember who said this? Kawakami mainly covers the Golden State Warriors, and he had already hinted that Golden State sees a Nuggets target as attainable without naming Jokic, but let's be real here. ESPN's Jake Fisher also says the Warriors are watching. The Warriors are one of those teams out there looking around and rubbing their fingers together. And the athletic Sam Amick reports that Golden State wants maximum flexibility for the summer of 2027. And ask yourself why a team would care this much. Because Jokic is a three-time MVP, and that is the only kind of player who could change a franchise overnight. And it's not only them. An unnamed executive told the Ringers Howard Beck on November 4th, 29 executives are not doing their job if they're not consistently thinking I'm thinking about how to get to get Jokic on their team. And notice the timing, too. Nothing can happen until next summer, so the 2026-27 season is an audition for Jokic and for the Nuggets to prove to Jokic that he should stay. So the league is not waiting for Jokic to leave. The league is waiting for Jokic to be allowed to, for his window to open. There is a difference, and it is the story here. And I want to be fair, because Sports Illustrated's Logan Strzok argues that Nuggets fans have nothing to worry about. A title window depends on him. A $360 million offer 12 years in the franchise, I buy most of that. A guy who says the rest of my life in Denver means it, but still, we've seen people say that stuff. For instance, Kyrie Irving said to the Celtics fans in his final year with the Celtics, he did say, if you guys will have me, I'd like to be here for the rest of my career. Fast forward eight, nine months, and Kyrie Irving, who had been talking to Kevin Durant all season long when they were on opposite sides of the country, decided to team up in Brooklyn. Kyrie left. Spent some time in Brooklyn and now is in Dallas. Not only did he just leave the Boston Celtics, he moved teams again after that. So you could say one thing at the beginning of the year. If you get frustrated with a lot of different stuff, whether it's your team, whether it's the situation at hand, whether it's the winning, absolutely, and I mean absolutely, things will change. Players are not going to say... Yeah, I'm probably going to leave. This team kind of sucks now. We're no longer the finals contender. Our bench isn't good. And frankly, I just think I'm probably going to head out, guys. Sucks to be all, but I'll try my best this season. Don't worry, but I hope I don't get injured because I don't want to ruin my contract. That is something that is obviously going to be said. Yoko's just no idiot. And that's part of the reason why I disagree with this nothing to worry about argument. I think this is home bias right here. And... Honestly, Jokic did not say, I will sign. He said, if they want me, and hopefully they trust. Similar words to what Kyrie said before leaving the Celtics a while back. A man who talks like that is judging the room just as much as he feels like he may get judged. So, look at the room. Last season, the Nuggets had the best offense in the league, an offensive rating of 121.2. This season, it's 115.9, which is ninth. Net rating went from plus 5.2 and seventh last season to plus 0.7 and 17th this season. Rebounding fell from eighth in the league to 21st. And Jokic is not the problem. He's scoring 25.8 points a game over his last five games, up from the 21.2 before that, and he's nearly averaging a triple-double as per usual. And fans see it too. BrandonLewis8962 wrote, Adleman has never been the best fit as head coach. Coach, he's a great assistant. But not the man to leave these guys. Or leave these guys, excuse me. And Robert Poorman, 3-5-3-1, put it simply saying, they need a strong veteran coach. And look at what Jokic needs around him. With Christian Brown on the floor, Jokic's plus minus this season is a plus 4.3. Without Brown, it's a minus 7.5 because of defense and also Brown's shooting. He also shoots 31.7% from 3rd Brown on the floor and 12.5 without him. So that, you know, also matters. And the money's a different problem. Denver's payroll is $218 million. That's $53.2 million over the salary cap. So any move they make has to shed salary and they're nearing... The second apron being in complete hell because the more they're in it, the more they're going to have a lot of problems. And that's the real problem for Denver. They can't fix this with money. They're over the cap. They have to fix it with trades and every trade has to send salary out. And think about what Denver would be giving up. Jokic already passed Alex English for the most offensive rebounds in franchise history. He's four blocks from passing Antonio McDyess for sixth in franchise history. You don't let a man walk who's rewriting the record books and is the greatest player in the history of your franchise. Put it together, a superstar who wants to say, a front office that has to prove it can build around them, and a roster with no easy ways to improve it. Then you see the Warriors and their flexibility to wait, and that's how an open thing becomes an open thing, as Kawakami said. So, we have to ask ourselves the big question, is Jokic staying in Denver? Kawakami said very likely, and I do agree. Jokic has said it more than once, and he has put his name on it, but very likely is not, definitely, and it's not signed. And the Nuggets don't need to panic. They need to answer one question by next summer. Does this roster look like a team worth waiting for? Sign him, and that title is still there. You're still having a window, even if it's not the best one. Lose him, and that's a rebuild with no star, little draft assets, and probably a good five to six years of being an absolute hell. So, here's what I'm watching. One, whether Denver makes a move and adds a real player without breaking the books. Two, whether Jokic's tone changes from all sign to something looser. And three, any word on that player option. If all of them stay quiet, this is noise. If one moves, it is not. If you are a Nuggets fan, here's how I would feel, and I imagine we all are here. So, be calm, but not completely asleep. Jokic is at a flight risk today. He's not going anywhere, but the best players in the league do not sign anything until they like what they see. And that's exactly what a year of this team is going to tell him. Can he do it with this squad or does he no longer believe the Nuggets can put together a championship roster? I mean, the GM, the coach, the guys who won rings there are gone. That great bench, it's gone. Some of the starters from that team are gone. This is not the same team. This doesn't have KCP and... And P.J. on the wings. It doesn't have Jeff Green, Cowboy, Bruce, and those guys off the bench. It doesn't have Reggie Jackson off the bench. This team doesn't even have Russell Westbrook, who was the other real ball handler this team had, and now the Nuggets are struggling with that. It's not the same contender at all. It's harder now. It's not as good, if we're being honest. And if Jokic sees no way of it getting better, you have to be honest with yourself. He's going to look at other options and at least wonder what it would be like. And our comment of the day is from... Javi Mihaly, 420, who wrote, Fire Adelman and hire Stan Van Gundy as your new coach. Stan, if you're watching, Denver fans are calling. Now it's your turn. Tell me in the comments, does Jokic sign an extension in the summer? Yes or no? Let me know.