Nuggets, Murray Agree to Extension

Even significant injuries cannot stop the show in the ‘Mile High City’. Injury-prone Denver Nuggets star point guard Jamal Murray has agreed to a gigantic four-year, $208 million contract extension prior to the of start of the 2024-25 NBA season in October, his agents Jeff Schwartz and Mike George told ESPN’s senior NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski.

The 6-foot-5, 27-year-old veteran, has been ravaged by injuries and inconsistency throughout the past several regular seasons, but until 2024 was frequently able to step up his performances at the most critical moments in the playoffs, when it matters most.

According to Wojnarowski, the final year of the contract will pay Murray an unbelievable $57.5 million. The NBA’s 2025-26 season, the first year that Murray’s deal goes into effect, will put the Nuggets in financial turmoil, being $10.9 million over the luxury tax and $4.1 million over the first apron.

Next on Denver’s to do list is figuring out the contract of another impactful starter that can do a little bit of everything including the dirty work, Aaron Gordon. The 6-foot-8 two-time Slam Dunk Contest runner-up has a $22.8 million player option for the 2025-26 campaign, and could theoretically make the decision to opt out and hit the market as an unrestricted free agency this summer.

Murray appeared to be on a fringe All-Star path prior to suffering a devasting ACL tear late into the 2020-21 season. Since that time, he has been sidelined for 23 or more games in two of the last three seasons.

Again, he has been able to elevate his production across the lion’s share of his postseason career, until this past spring, when his shooting fell off a cliff. Murray still put up solid averages of 20.6 points, 5.6 assists, 4.3 rebounds, 0.8 steals, and 0.5 blocks per round. Unfortunately, he posted subpar and inefficient shooting splits of .402/.315/.923 during the Nuggets’ run to a seven-game Western Conference semifinal series loss against Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Murray, one of eight players with multiple 50-point playoff games in NBA history, is the franchise’s all-time leader in made 3-point shots. He averaged career highs of 21.2 points and 6.5 assists a season ago.

Locking in a young, experienced, but not-quite-All-Star with a lengthy injury history to a maximum deal may seem like risky business, but Denver ownership and team president Calvin Booth clearly value what Murray brings to the table and means to their championship-caliber core, alongside three-time league MVP center Nikola Jokic, Gordon, and pricey and athletic small forward Michael Porter Jr. The team could face a slight regression this season, after letting former starting shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope walk out the door in free agency to the Orlando Magic on a three-year, $66 million deal. Between Caldwell-Pope and former Nuggets champions Bruce Brown and Jeff Green, Booth has now let three of its top seven players from the club’s 2023 title team walk.

Head coach Michael Malone, who is an NBA lifer, has also reportedly grown frustrated on the front office’s recent cost-cutting moves.