While many see the Denver Nuggets as a great one-two punch between Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. In fact, Aaron Gordon is a very big piece of the puzzle. Therefore, the team’s recently reported handling of Gordon’s contract is very shocking.

According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, the Denver Nuggets are unwilling to offer Aaron Gordon the full maximum contract of $150 million. Gordon has a player option for the 2025-26 NBA season and is an unrestricted free agent for the 2026-2027 season.

“As far as I know, they’re negotiating with Aaron Gordon,” Windhorst said. “Aaron Gordon was eligible for a four-year contract extension worth $150 million. You didn’t make that offer, otherwise he would have signed it. From what I understand they are negotiating and hoping to get him at less than what his quote would be, unquote max.

Currently, Aaron Gordon has a four-year, $86.7 million contract that he signed in September 2021. It was a deal that was made before Gordon became an NBA champion with the Nuggets. If the last two seasons have proven anything, it’s Gordon’s importance to the Nuggets’ playoff success.

During the 2024 NBA Playoffs, Gordon averaged 14.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 4.4 assists on 59/41/82 shooting from the field. He performed better in last year’s playoffs than he did in the team’s championship year in 2023 and was arguably the team’s second-best player in last year’s playoffs.

Year after year, several dominoes fell for the Denver Nuggets, causing the team to lose its championship bid. First it was Bruce Brown and Jeff Green. Then it lost Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Now the team has a very important decision to make regarding Aaron Gordon.

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