Panathinaikos' surprising offer to Jokic - and the hope: "We will wait for next year"
The owner of the Greek club approached Denver in an attempt to sign the three-time MVP, but the Nuggets rejected the offer. Giannakopoulos does not intend to give up and is already aiming for 2027/28.
Nikola Jokic may have stated that he plans to stay with the Denver Nuggets until the end of his career, but for Panathinaikos owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos, that does not matter much. According to reports in the US, the Greek submitted a serious offer to the three-time NBA MVP in an attempt to bring him to Athens. According to Anthony Slater of ESPN, Giannakopoulos offered the Nuggets to buy out the final year of Jokic's contract. Denver rejected the offer, but the Panathinaikos owner believes he can convince the Serbian to waive his player option of $63.8 million for the 2027/28 season and sign with his team.
"I definitely made a very serious offer this year, both to his team and to him," Giannakopoulos said on the "Euro Insiders" podcast. "I got a refusal. I know he has one more year on his contract." Last season, Jokic became the first player in the NBA to lead the league in both rebounds and assists, with 12.9 rebounds and 10.7 assists per game, alongside 27.7 points. Next season, he is expected to earn $59 million.
Giannakopoulos said the offer was rejected almost immediately: "It took them a few seconds to say: 'Who? Greece? Where? What? Bye'," he said. "But let's wait until next year." Jokic will not sign a contract extension this summer, even though he was eligible for four years for $278 million. Waiting until next summer will allow him to add a year and earn about $80 million more.
