Panathinaikos Basketball Club owner Dimitrios Giannakopoulos claimed he made a “proposal” to the Denver Nuggets on acquiring Nikola Jokic out of his current NBA contract and believes he could convince Jokic to sign with him in the next offseason.
“People are going to say, ‘OK, now he’s joking,'” Giannakopoulos told the “Euro Insiders” podcast. “I did make a very serious proposal this year both to his team and to him. I got a rejection. I know that he has one more year of a contract.”
The Serbian big man has two seasons and $121.8 million left on his current contract with the Nuggets, but the second one is a player option and allows him to opt-out of the contract next year and hit unrestricted free agency.
Jokic became eligible to sign a four-year, $278 million max extension on June 14th but hasn’t committed to signing it yet, claiming that his “idea and desire” is to remain with Denver for the rest of his career but waiting to make it for economic reasons.
Next July, Jokic, 31, will become eligible to sign a five-year, $359.5 million max extension with the Nuggets, making it the biggest contract in NBA history, according to ESPN NBA front office insider Bobby Marks.
Giannakopoulos Reveals Rejected Jokić Proposal
The Nuggets rejected Giannakopoulos’ offer quickly, but he stated that he will pursue Jokic again when he becomes a free agent and advised the hosts of the podcast to contact Jokic’s agent Misko Raznatovic and check whether he actually made a legitimate proposal in this offseason.
Giannakopoulos tried to poach veteran center Jonas Valanciunas from the Nuggets last offseason, convincing some people that a deal was imminent, which led to some confusion because Valanciunas ended up playing for Denver for the entire season.
However, Valanciunas left the Nuggets this offseason for Lithuanian EuroLeague powerhouse Zalgiris Kaunas, making it just a minor story in what turned out to be an uneventful free agency period for the Nuggets.
They added veteran center Marvin Bagley III and re-signed reserve forward Spencer Jones after matching a two-year, $12 million offer sheet he signed with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Nuggets haven’t made any major moves this offseason except keeping their expensive roster in tact while negotiating with restricted free agent Peyton Watson.
