The Nuggets have exercised their third-year team option on Zeke Nnaji‘s rookie scale contract, a league source tells Mike Singer of The Denver Post (Twitter link). The move guarantees Nnaji’s $2,617,800 salary for the 2022/23 season.
Nnaij was the 22nd overall pick in the 2020 draft, joining the Nuggets after playing his college ball at Arizona. The 20-year-old wasn’t a major part of the team’s rotation as a rookie, but did get into 42 games, averaging 3.2 PPG and 1.5 RPG in 9.5 minutes per contest.
With Nnaji locked in for his third NBA season, the Nuggets will have to make their next major decision on the young forward a year from now, when they’ll have to either pick up or turn down his $4.3MM fourth-year option for the ’23/24 campaign. If that option is exercised, Nnaji would become extension-eligible during the 2023 offseason.
Our tracker of 2022/23 rookie scale option decisions can be found right here.