Aaron Gordon on potential contract extension with Nuggets: “I hope we get it done”
Denver Post
Aaron Gordon is in no rush to leave Denver.
The Nuggets and their starting power forward expressed mutual interest Thursday in completing a contract extension. Gordon, 29, is eligible to negotiate and sign up to a four-year contract deal starting Friday, when the Nuggets also hold their first practice of training camp at Ball Arena.
“I really love this organization,” Gordon said at the team’s media day. “I love the players on this team. I love the coaching staff. So I hope we get it done. It seems like it’s moving forward in the right direction. So I’m excited. I’m excited hopefully to be extended and to stay with this organization.”
Denver acquired Gordon during the 2020-21 season in a blockbuster trade that sent Gary Harris, RJ Hampton and a 2025 first-round draft pick to Orlando. Gordon transitioned out of his previous role as a lead scoring option, learning to complement center Nikola Jokic in a frontcourt partnership that has become synonymous with the Nuggets’ success. During their 2023 championship run, he guarded a gauntlet of Karl-Anthony Towns, Kevin Durant, LeBron James and Jimmy Butler en route to the first championship in franchise history.
“Hopefully we have some productive talks with his representation, and we’re able to find a deal that we’re both satisfied with,” general manager Calvin Booth said. “He’s been an integral part of what we’ve done. And we’d like to keep him here for a long time.”
In 3½ seasons and 241 regular-season games for Denver, Gordon has averaged 14.5 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists, shooting at a 54.2% clip. The Nuggets have deployed him as a backup center during playoff games in addition to his role with the starting unit.
Included in his current contract is a 2025 player option, which gives him the choice to become a free agent after the upcoming season. Gordon is widely understood to be a bargain at his current price ($22.8 million is his 2024-25 cap hit), and he would be one of the league’s premier free agents next offseason if he were to hit the market.
The Nuggets are hard-capped at the second luxury tax apron for the 2024-25 season due to their offseason roster moves, but extending Gordon would likely result in their roster payroll exceeding the second apron in 2025-26. They’ve already signed Jamal Murray to a four-year max extension this summer that will go into effect next season, with Murray estimated by Spotrac to make $46.4 million in the first year of the deal.
That means the projected salaries of Murray, Jokic and Michael Porter Jr. in 2025-26 already add up to just shy of $140 million. The 2024-25 NBA salary cap is set at $140.6 million.
If Gordon signs for the full number of years available, Denver’s title-winning core of Jokic, Murray, Porter and Gordon would be locked in for the next three seasons, through the summer of 2027 when Porter’s contract expires and Jokic has a player option.
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