Nikola Jokić has said that he plans to play with the Denver Nuggets for the remainder of his professional basketball career.
However, that didn’t stop the owner of Panathinaikos Basketball Club from making an offer to the three-time NBA MVP, hoping to sign him away to Athens, Greece.
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Dimitrios Giannakopoulos made a “proposal” to Jokić to buy him out of the final season of his current contract with the Nuggets, according to ESPN’s Anthony Slater. The Nuggets refused the offer, but Giannakopoulos believes he can convince Jokić to decline his $63.8 million player option for the 2027-28 season and sign him to Panathinaikos.
Last season, Panathinaikos finished second in the Greek Basketball League at 19-5 and seventh in EuroLeague with a 22-16 record.
“”I did make a very serious proposal this year, both to his team and to him,” Giannakopoulos said on the “Euro Insiders” podcast. “I got a rejection. I know that he has one more year of a contract.”
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Last season, Jokić became the first NBA player to lead the league in rebounds and assists, averaging 12.9 boards and 10.7 assists while also scoring 27.7 points per game. He is signed for a $59 million salary next season.
Giannakopoulos, who made his fortune as the founder of Greek pharmaceutical company Vianex, said the Nuggets declined the offer almost immediately.
“It took a few seconds to say, ‘Who? Greece? Where? What? Bye,'” Giannakopoulos said. “But let’s wait until next year.”
Jokić previously informed that the Nuggets that he would not sign a contract extension during this offseason. He was eligible for a four-year, $278 million deal. But by waiting until next summer, Jokić can add another year and roughly $80 million more to an extension.
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When that point was raised to Giannakopoulos, he dismissed the talk about having to match a reported five-year, $360 million max contract. In his view, the contract he has to surpass to persuade Jokić to Athens is the $64 million player option for 2027-28.
This isn’t the first time Giannakopoulos attempted to buy a player away from the Nuggets. Last year, he attempted to sign center Jonas Valančiūnas after Denver acquired him in a trade with the Sacramento Kings.
Giannakopoulos offered to buy out the final two years and $20 million remaining on Valančiūnas’ NBA contract, but the 6-foot-11 center decided to play for Denver. Following the season, the Nuggets waived him to avoid paying him $10 million and he signed with Lithuanian club Zalgiris Kaunas.
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