Nikola Jokic Eyed by Team in Greece, Nuggets Received 'Serious Proposal' Amid Contract Rumors

Dimitrios Giannakopoulos, the owner of Greece's Panathinaikos Basketball Club, made an offer to the Denver Nuggets to buy out the final year of Nikola Jokić's contract.

Yes, seriously.

"People are going to say, 'OK, now he's joking,'" Giannakopoulos told the Euro Insiders podcast (h/t Anthony Slater of ESPN). "I did make a very serious proposal this year both to his team and to him. I got a rejection. I know that he has one more year of a contract."

It's stunning that the Nuggets weren't interested in letting a three-time MVP walk away for nothing but a contract buyout. A truly shocking development.

"It took a few seconds [for the Nuggets] to say, 'Who? Greece? Where? What? Bye,'" Giannakopoulos said. "But let's wait until next year."

As Slater noted, Jokić is currently eligible to sign a four-year, $278 million max extension and will be eligible for a five-year, $359.5 million extension next July. He currently is under contract for the 2026-27 season with a $62.8 million player option for the 2027-28 campaign, though if he declines that option and doesn't sign an extension with the Nuggets he'll hit free agency next summer.

That has cast some uncertainties regarding his future in Denver, especially as the Nuggets have had a fairly quiet offseason while navigating the restricted free agencies of Spencer Jones (re-signed) and Peyton Watson (still unsigned).

Even if Jokić ultimately chose to depart the Nuggets, it's hard to imagine he would leave the NBA for Greece while he's still very much in his prime. Jokić retiring to tend to his horses full time is probably more likely than him continuing his basketball career outside of the NBA.

But you can't blame Giannakopoulos for trying. As Slater noted, he also tried to lure Jonas Valančiūnas to Greece last offseason, though the veteran center played with the Nuggets before signing with Lithuanian EuroLeague team Zalgiris Kaunas this offseason. As both Wayne Gretzky and Michael Scott taught us, you miss 100 percent of the shots you don't take.