ESPN NBA insider Brian Windhorst revealed that Denver Nuggets MVP big man Nikola Jokic and Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic are two players that he noticed buddying up this summer.
“I live in this world where literally people in the NBA are calling me up and saying, ‘Hey when you were with Team USA, who did you notice was buddying up?’” Windhorst said. “And I would say, ‘The buddies I’ve been noticing this summer are Luka and Jokic.’”
While Doncic and Jokic may be good friends, it’s hard to see a path for the two players to team up in the near future in the NBA.
Jokic, the three-time league MVP, is currently under contract with the Nuggets through the 2026-27 season and has a player option for the 2027-28 campaign. With Denver still looking to win another title during his prime, it would likely take an insane offer – and potentially a trade request from the center as well – to lure him from the Nuggets.
For Doncic, the contract situation is somewhat similar. The star guard, who led Dallas to the NBA Finals in the 2023-24 season, is under contract through the 2025-26 season and has a player option for the 2026-27 season.
There is a scenario where both players could be free agents ahead of the 2027-28 campaign. For that to happen, Jokic would need to decline his player option for that season while Doncic would need to either opt into his deal for the 2026-27 season or sign a one-year deal following the 2025-26 season (assuming he opts out) to make himself a free agent before the 2027-28 campaign.
While that is a possibility, Jokic will be 32 years old the summer before the 2027-28 campaign.
The other path for the two stars to unite would be through a trade, but neither Dallas or Denver has a plethora of future draft picks since both teams have made moves to win now in previous offseasons.
That would make it very hard for either team to accept a trade, especially since Doncic and Jokic are two of the best players in the NBA. Neither franchise would want to part ways with its star player for a discounted price tag on the trade market.
It is interesting that Jokic and Doncic are getting close, as there’s a chance they find themselves matched up against each other in the playoffs in the 2024-25 season.
For now, this apparently budding friendship is likely something to watch for down the line when it comes to a potential pairing in the NBA.
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