Murray is eligible for a four-year extension this summer worth up to $209 million, a deal that would keep him in a Nuggets uniform through the 2028-29 season. But he’s been eligible for that contract since the end of the season, and he’s been in Denver for two weeks without a contract at the moment.
$209 million over four years is the most Murray can get, having failed to qualify for a supermax because he has never made an All-NBA team. He has never even made an All-Star team, despite playing at a superstar level in the playoffs, including in 2020 and 2023 when he helped the Nuggets win a title.
Murray signed a max rookie-level contract extension in 2019, a deal that expires at the end of the upcoming season. If the Nuggets can’t reach an agreement with Murray, he will become an unrestricted free agent next summer, though general manager Calvin Booth told Sirius XM He believed the two sides would quickly reach an agreement after Murray played for Canada at the Olympics.
“When he comes back and this is all wrapped up, I think it will be pretty easy,” Booth said. “I don’t think it will be a long series of negotiations.”
But it appears there are negotiations, which means the Nuggets may not want to give their point guard more than $50 million per season. Murray had a disappointing Olympics for Canada and a disappointing playoff run for the Nuggets, shooting just 40 percent from the field and 31.5 percent from three-point range. His 20.6 points average was a career-low in the playoffs as he battled calf and elbow injuries.
Still, even if Murray is required to miss 20 games per season (he played 65 games in 2022-23 and 59 games last season), the Nuggets won’t be able to replace him with another free agent. It would be particularly bad form to refuse to pay Murray after the team lost Bruce Brown and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope as free agents in back-to-back seasons.
Would Murray settle for a sub-max contract? Maybe, but it wouldn’t give the Nuggets much more flexibility. Denver won’t be under the salary cap with Nikola Jokic making over $50 million a year and Michael Porter, Jr. and Aaron Gordon making close to $60 million between them. Plus, Gordon can become a free agent next summer.
Giving Murray a max salary might be an over-reward, but he probably has the most leverage in this negotiation. Unless Denver is willing to live through a season full of questions about Murray’s impending free agency or is willing to trade Jokic’s partner, they need to make a deal soon. It’s becoming suspicious that they haven’t done so already.
