The Denver Nuggets have declined center Nikola Jokic's option for the 2018-19 season in order to offer him a max contract extension.
The Nuggets are pulling some trickery to keep Jokic from hitting restricted free agency next offseason. By declining his fifth-year option and signing him to a five-year max extension, they will forgo him entering the RFA market in the summer of 2019.
Jokic averaged 18.5 points, 10.7 rebounds, 6.1 assists, and 1.2 steals over 32.6 minutes per game in 2017-18. He owned a .554 effective field goal percentage, and his nERD of 11.3 ranked him 12th among all players.
Source: Shams Charania