According to The Ringer’s Zach Lowe, all the rumors and so-called reports of Nikola Jokic wanting, or even thinking about, leaving the Denver Nuggets are absolutely false.
Speculation rose when Jokic decided not to sign the three-year, $212 million contract extension he was eligible for this offseason. However, just because he didn’t sign it doesn’t mean he’s upset with the franchise.
In fact, with all the offseason moves Denver has done, ranging from Cam Johnson to Jonas Valanciunas, Jokic has been reportedly “pleased” with their success.
“Nobody in Denver batted an eye that I heard, privately or publicly, when Jokic said, ‘You know what? It doesn’t make sense for me financially to do it this summer. Let’s revisit it next summer,'” said Lowe.
“There’s never even been a whisper through coaching changes at the last minute, through roster turmoil, through losing core guys because of tax issues and whatever, through Calvin Booth getting fired at the end of the season, through all that. There has never been a whisper of like this guy wants to go to a different team.
“There’s the joke whispers about could he just retire and go back to Sombor and be a horse guy, like whatever, maybe. There’s never been a whisper, and so we skirted past it.
“But you just have to flag it that if we get to next summer, it then becomes a little bit of an issue. But all the fans of teams whose guys are constantly in trade rumors, like the [Milwaukee] Bucks, are justifiably like, ‘Why don’t you ever mention [Jokic]? Why is there no panic about that?’ And it’s because there isn’t any panic about it. I haven’t heard any panic about it. I haven’t heard anything from his agency indicating that he’s upset about X, Y, and Z and would ask for a trade. Who knows what’s possible, but that’s all I heard.”
