Reports: Zeke Nnaji, Nuggets agree to 4-year, $32 million contract extension
Zeke Nnaji is the first of several younger Nuggets players to be cemented as the team’s future.
Denver’s preseason efforts to re-fortify its bench reportedly continued on Saturday with an agreement on a multi-year contract extension for forward Zeke Nnaji.
The deal: Multiple reports, including from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, have Nnaji and the Nuggets coming to terms on a four-year, $32 million extension that will begin with the 2024-25 season. Nnaji’s standard rookie contract was set to expire and allow him to enter restricted free agency next summer.
The player: Drafted 22nd overall in 2020, Nnaji has played on the fringes of Denver’s rotation over the last two seasons. The 22-year-old averaged 5.2 points and 2.6 rebounds in 13.7 minutes per game while shooting 56.1% last season.
The situation: The Nuggets are banking on the 6-foot-9 Nnaji’s continued development, especially after an offseason that saw veteran forward Jeff Green — as well as sixth man guard Bruce Brown — leave the defending champions via free agency.
The numbers: As of right now, Nnaji’s reported extension makes him the highest-paid non-starter on the books after this season. He also joins Nikola Jokic and Michael Porter Jr. as the only players whose contracts are guaranteed to go beyond the 2024-25 season. Rookie contract team options make it likely that Christian Braun, Julian Strawther and Peyton Watson would also still be on the books by then as well.
