Denver Nuggets star point guard Jamal Murray has agreed to a four-year, $208 million US maximum contract extension, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press on Saturday.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity as the deal, which keeps Murray out of free agency next summer, awaited the requisite signatures.
Murray, of Kitchener, Ont., made a remarkable return from a torn ACL that sidelined him for all of the 2021-22 season to help lead the Nuggets to the franchise’s first NBA title in 2023.
Murray averaged just six points per game at the Olympics and shot below 30 per cent from the floor and 15 per cent from 3-point range, leading many Nuggets fans to wonder if his extension would get done.
In Denver, though, Murray is three-time MVP Nikola Jokic’s pick-and-roll partner and provides the Nuggets with one of the NBA’s best offensive duos.
The extension, which has been in the works for months, will keep Murray in a Nuggets uniform through the 2028-29 season.
The franchise’s all-time leader in 3-pointers, Murray averaged a career-best 21.2 points and 6.5 assists last season, but he missed several games with a variety of nagging injuries.
After hitting a pair of game winners in the Nuggets’ first-round series against the Los Angeles Lakers, Murray was hobbled in Denver’s seven-game loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round.
General manager Calvin Booth said following the early exit that the team needs Murray to be in top shape for the rigours of the upcoming season and for it to make another deep playoff run.