2018 NBA Offseason Salary Cap Digest: Denver Nuggets

The Nuggets went all-in during 2017’s free agent period, locking up Paul Millsap to a multiyear deal that would pay him in the neighborhood of $30MM annually. In signing Millsap and extending Gary Harris, the Nuggets essentially forfeited any cap flexibility they would’ve had for the summer of 2018, but that aggressive spending didn’t result in a playoff berth in a competitive Western Conference. Denver will head into the 2018/19 campaign hoping that better health from Millsap and continued improvements from its young players will produce better results.

Here’s where things currently stand for the Nuggets financially, as we continue our Offseason Salary Cap Digest series for 2018:

Guaranteed Salary

Player Options

Team Options

Non-Guaranteed Salary

  • None

Restricted Free Agents

  • None

Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds

Projected Salary Cap: $101,000,000

Projected Cap Room: None

  • Even if Chandler turns down his player option, Arthur is a virtual lock to exercise his, and Jokic will be back — either on his cheap team-option salary or on a lucrative new deal to avoid having him reach unrestricted free agency in 2019. With their nine guaranteed contracts, Arthur’s player option, Jokic’s team option, and the cap hold for their lottery pick, the Nuggets already have a total team salary of $97,544,153, essentially eliminating cap room.
  • If Chandler opts in and the Nuggets want to sign Jokic to a new contract this summer, the team projects to be way over the cap, and may have to make a trade or two to avoid blowing past the luxury-tax line.

Footnotes:

  1. The Nuggets are 14th in the draft lottery standings. They could technically end up picking at No. 1 ($8,095,595), No. 2 ($7,243,344), or No. 3 ($6,504,619), though that’s unlikely.

Note: Rookie scale cap holds are estimates based on salary cap projections and could increase or decrease depending on where the cap lands.

Salary information from Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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