The Nuggets’ championship win on Monday was a significant financial boon for two of the team’s forwards.
According to Bobby Marks of ESPN, the final year of Michael Porter Jr.’s five-year contract with the Nuggets is now entirely guaranteed. Prior to playing in at least 62 games (plus 75% of Denver’s postseason games) and the team winning a title, Porter’s $40.8M cap cost for 2026–27 had only $12M guaranteed. Porter now has the full $40.8M guaranteed.
According to Marks’ tweets, Aaron Gordon received a $1M bonus as a result of the victory. As a result, Gordon’s cap charge for 2023–24 will increase from $21.2M to $22.2M, as that $1M incentive will now be seen as “likely” (as opposed to “unlikely”) for the following season. But unless they win another championship, the Nuggets wouldn’t be responsible for that bonus money the following year.
More information on the NBA’s most recent champions is provided below:
In five NBA Finals games, Porter averaged just 9.6 points on.328/.143/.750 shooting, but his performance shown that he is capable of making contributions in other areas, which is encouraging for his future development, according to Nick Kosmider of The Athletic. Porter matched his season best of 13 rebounds in both Game 1 and Game 5.
Star guard Jamal Murray stated on Monday that he thinks the team can win future championships with this core after playing a significant role in helping the Nuggets win the first championship in franchise history. Murray, who was out for the entirety of the 2021–22 season due to a ruptured ACL, said Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN, “I felt once we were well, we could do it. This was therefore long overdue. This, in my opinion, is just the beginning.
The Athletic’s Sam Amick and Tony Jones examine every action and choice that resulted in Denver’s first title, including the promotion of assistant general manager Calvin Booth following the departure of seasoned businessman Tim Connelly in 2022. As a head coach who has been in charge for seven years, I remember telling Josh Kroenke, “Listen, this is your call, Josh, but what I’m telling you as a head coach, we’re heading in the right direction, and I really hope that Calvin Booth is given the opportunity to take over,” according to Michael Malone, who spoke with The Athletic. ‘I know him, he knows me,’ I yelled. He is aware of our players. He is familiar with you. We’re in a fantastic place, (Booth) did a terrific job of expressing after taking all that into consideration. But how do we advance from good to outstanding? How can we improve this even more? And man, Calvin had the guts to do that.
The personnel and contract difficulties the Nuggets will face this offseason, including Bruce Brown’s prospective free agency and Jamal Murray’s extension eligibility, are discussed in advance by Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype and Bobby Marks of ESPN (Insider link). In case you missed it, after Monday’s triumph, Brown said he wanted to stay in Denver.