Aaron Gordon’s four-year, $ 92 million extension signals Denver Nuggets’ commitment to championship fight

Aaron Gordon was visibly elated after being traded to the Denver Nuggets from the Orlando Magic on the NBA trade deadline last March.

“It’s a huge relief to be part of a great organization,” he shared on his first media call with his new team.

“I’m just happy to have found a new home.

Gordon can now continue to call Denver home for years to come, having struck a four-year, $ 92 million extension with the Nuggets, as first reported by Shams Charania of Athletic.

The deal represents what is likely the penultimate offseason decision from Nuggets president of basketball operations Tim Connelly, general manager Calvin Booth and front office staff in Denver. Their latest unfinished business: negotiating a new extension with rising star Michael Porter Jr., who told Denver Post’s Mike Singer that “everything is going well as far as it goes.”

Assuming Porter also finds common ground with Denver, it could potentially allow him to strike a deal at or near his maximum five-year rookie contract extension salary, $ 168 million.

Wages are piling up

Both of these expansions, if finalized, will follow additional free agent spending during the offseason for the Nuggets, who re-signed Will Barton III (two-year, $ 32 million), JaMychal Green (two-year, $ 17 million). $) and Austin Rivers (one year, $ 1.7 million per Spotrac), as well as veteran D-Day companion Jeff Green (two years, $ 10 million) to bolster their front zone depth in the middle of the start of the great men Paul Millsap and JaVale McGee.

Bundled with the current maximum contracts of reigning MVP Nikola Jokic and star point guard Jamal Murray (who will be out at least until early 2022 to recover from an ACL tear), it all adds up to… a lot. A very large and expensive lot.

While the new deals for Gordon and Porter would not begin until the 2022-23 season, Denver’s payrolls in the coming year are close to the 2021-22 luxury tax threshold of $ 136 million, the The duo’s contracts before surpassing them well above the 2022-2023 expected tax cap of $ 145 million this season. And (barring big pay cuts, Denver would remain well above the luxury line for years to come.

This projected salary structure for the Nuggets cuts sharply against the penny pinch reputation of owners Stan and Josh Kroenke. Fairly or not, throughout their tenure the Kroenkes acquired the obvious image of chronic luxury tax payments (as well as other major expenses such as a training facility worthy of modern standards. of the NBA).

Those who believe in the Kroenkes’ willingness to spend on the luxury tax will point out that when they fielded a Nuggets team they believed could win a championship, they actually funded payrolls in excess of the top three times. tax threshold. Those who doubt retort that the last time they did so was over ten years ago, and that their main priority has most often been to stay below the line, sometimes even to the detriment of the success of the team.

“No financial constraint”

When I asked Tim Connelly at his end-of-season press conference last June if he had discussed with the owners if they would approve his front office spending beyond the tax limit to maintain a list of titles at the level of contestation, he was unambiguous as to his understanding. that the Nuggets would have the green light to spend.

“The ownership has been excellent,” he replied, noting that “they went into the tax in the past”.

“We have no financial constraints to try to further develop a championship level team.”

Adding more context, Connelly described the Kroenkes as “obsessed with basketball”, saying “they will do whatever they can to make sure [the Nuggets] have the best possible luck.

Talking can be cheap in the NBA, where for a multitude of reasons (intentional or otherwise), many claims and hints of future possibilities never materialize.

But for Denver, the situation has actually become objectively and qualitatively different now.

Having assembled the core of players who they believe constitute a legitimate and enduring contender for the championship, the Nuggets are now decidedly on a trajectory in which payment of the tax will indeed be inevitable without breaking the list they have so carefully made. built.

Fans of the Nuggets who have long asked the Kroenkes to spend more to build a winning team, rest assured. You are about to make your wish come true.

Assuming the Gordon and Porter’s deals go as planned, these two plus all of the Jokic, Murray, Barton, Monte Morris, Zeke Nnaji (assuming the Nuggets exercise their squad option) and the choice of 2021 first round Nah-Shon “Bones” Hyland will all have guaranteed contracts at least until the 2022-2023 season.

And on top of all that, after winning the MVP award, Jokic is almost guaranteed to become the beneficiary of a ‘supermax’ contract extension that would take effect in the 2023-24 season, and would represent the biggest contract ever. league history:

In short, unless things go terribly wrong for Denver, it’s inevitable to spend very deep on the luxury tax (and even more when the repeat tax kicks in).

This kind of big spending is a brave new world for the Nuggets, but appropriate for a team that – if they haven’t already earned the label of “Nuggets on the most talented roster of all time” – have at least l ‘one of the best and most realistic chances in the history of the organization to reach not only the final but also the Larry O’Brien Trophy at home in Denver for the very first time.