Panathinaikos Owner's Jokic Buyout Bid And Nuggets' Contract Standoff
TLDR: Panathinaikos owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos says he made a serious offer to buy out the final year of Nikola Jokic's contract with the Nuggets, and ESPN's Dave McMenamin now says Jokic could chase money elsewhere if Denver's season goes off the rails.
The timeline matters here. Jokic is playing out two seasons left on his Nuggets deal, with the second year, 2027-28, being a player option worth roughly $62.8 million, according to ESPN. He's already made clear through his own comments that he'd rather stay in Denver long-term, but he's also been in no rush to sign an extension. By waiting until next summer instead of re-upping now, Jokic becomes eligible for a five-year, $359.5 million deal as a free agent — the richest contract in NBA history and a jump that would push his career on-court earnings past $700 million.
That financial calculus is exactly why ESPN's Dave McMenamin says the Nuggets can't just assume Jokic is locked in no matter what. If Denver stumbles this season, the leverage shifts, and suddenly all that patience Jokic has shown about staying put looks less like loyalty and more like a decision still very much on the table.
“If [Denver] has a season where they go off the rails or they don’t appear to be one of the best teams in the West… [Jokic] could make money a lot of places." Dave McMenamin on Nikola Jokic's future with the Nuggets 👀 (via @ESPNNBA)
None of that means Jokic is packing for Athens next summer — Giannakopoulos has made runs at Nuggets players before, including a previous attempt at Jonas Valanciunas that went nowhere. But the timing of his comments, right as McMenamin is publicly floating Jokic's flexibility, turns a fun overseas pipe dream into a real subplot for Denver's season. Every slow start now comes with a question mark attached: is this the year the two-time MVP's patience runs out?
Nikola Jokic isn't going anywhere this season, but the noise around his future just got a lot louder. Panathinaikos owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos went public this week with a claim that sounds like a fever dream for Nuggets fans: he actually tried to buy Jokic out of the final year of his contract in Denver.
Panathinaikos owner says he made a “very serious offer” to the Nuggets for Nikola Jokic: “There is one player who remains a dream of mine, whom I haven’t signed yet, but I will sign next year. It’s Jokic, the best player in the world… I tried to buy out the last year of his contract, but I was rejected. Let’s wait for next year.” (via @Eurohoopsnet, h/t @Fullcourtpass)
Giannakopoulos didn't hedge. He called Jokic "the best player in the world" and admitted he pitched both the Nuggets and Jokic's camp on a buyout, only to get shot down. His plan B is patience — wait for the summer of 2027, when Jokic can walk as a free agent, and try again then.
Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos on wanting to sign the Joker from the Nuggets 👀 "The one player which is a dream of mine and I haven't signed, I will sign next year... it's [Nikola] Jokic, the best player in the world! ... I did make a very serious proposal this year, both to his team and to him. I got a rejection. ... I tried to buy out his last year... let's wait until next year." (via @euroinsiders)
