Murray is eligible to signal a four-year extension this summer season for as much as $209M, a deal that may maintain him in a Nuggets uniform by way of the 2028-29 season. However he is been eligible for this deal because the season ended, and he is been within the metropolis of Denver for 2 weeks with no deal but.
$209M for 4 years is the utmost that Murray can get, having failed the standards for a supermax as a result of he is by no means made an All-NBA workforce. He is by no means even made an All-Star workforce, although he is performed at a famous person stage through the playoffs, particularly in 2020 and 2023 when he helped the Nuggets win a title.
Murray signed a max-level rookie extension in 2019, a deal that expires on the finish of the upcoming season. Ought to the Nuggets not attain a cope with Murray, he’d change into an unrestricted free agent subsequent summer season, although GM Calvin Sales space told Sirius XM he thought the 2 sides would attain a deal shortly after Murray performed for Canada within the Olympics.
“When he will get again and that concludes, I feel will probably be fairly straightforward,” Sales space mentioned. “I don’t assume will probably be a bunch of negotiation.”
However apparently there may be some negotiation, which means that the Nuggets might not wish to give their level guard upwards of $50M per season. Murray had a disappointing Olympics for Canada and a disappointing playoffs for the Nuggets, capturing solely 40 % from the sphere and 31.5 % from three-point vary. His 20.6 scoring common was the bottom of his playoff profession as he battled accidents to his calf and elbow.
Nonetheless, even when Murray goes to overlook 20 video games per season — he performed 65 video games in 2022-23 and 59 video games final season — the Nuggets aren’t going to have the ability to substitute him with another free agent. It could look particularly dangerous to refuse to pay Murray after the workforce misplaced Bruce Brown and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in free company in consecutive seasons.
Would Murray accept lower than a max deal? Maybe, however doing so would not give the Nuggets far more flexibility. Denver is not going to be beneath the cap with Nikola Jokic making over $50M a 12 months and Michael Porter, Jr. and Aaron Gordon making almost $60M mixed. Plus, Gordon can change into a free agent subsequent summer season.
Giving Murray a max could be an overpay, however he doubtless has a lot of the leverage on this negotiation. Except Denver is ready for a season filled with questions on Murray’s impending free company or is keen to commerce Jokic’s operating associate, they should get a deal finished quickly. It is changing into suspicious that they have not finished it but.
