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NBA players play for the love of the game, obviously.
But there are also major and significant financial incentives for putting in the kind of superhuman work they put in.
Incentives and bonuses make life sweet for NBA players once they reach those performance-based goals, and two stars from the Denver Nuggets may agree with that statement.
According to NBA insider Keith Smith, Aaron Gordon received a $1 million bonus for winning the NBA Finals, taking his cap hit for the upcoming season to $22.3 million.
Likewise, Michael Porter Jr. triggered the “win NBA Finals” portion of fully guaranteeing his salary for the 2026-27 season, which rises all the way to $40.8 million.
Financial things from Denver winning the 2023 NBA Finals:
-Aaron Gordon achieved $1M in bonuses for winning the Finals. New cap # for 23-24 is $22.3M.
-Michael Porter Jr. triggered the “win Finals” portion of fully guaranteeing his $40.8M salary in 26-27. Checking on GP portion.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) June 13, 2023
Notably, the best part about this Nuggets run is their entire championship-winning core will be back next season, and they’re all under contract for the foreseeable future.
Jamal Murray won’t be a free agent until 2025, Porter’s deal runs through 2027, Gordon has two years and one player-option year left, and Nikola Jokic has four years and one player option worth over $60 million for the 2027-28 campaign.
Of course, the new CBA will make it tough to have several players under huge contracts for the long run, and they’re more than likely to lose Bruce Brown in free agency, but there’s no reason to think this team can’t win at least another championship in the next two seasons.
The Nuggets’ front office did an outstanding job of putting this squad together, and they’re not going anywhere, at least for now.
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