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By Cameron Kiszla
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One of the NBA's biggest superstars could be headed to play in Europe — at least, if one prominent team owner gets his way.
Dimitrios Giannakopoulos, owner of Panathinaikos Basketball Club in Athens, is targeting Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, he told the "Euro Insiders" podcast.
"People are going to say, 'OK, now he's joking,'" Giannakopoulos said, as reported by Anthony Slater of ESPN. "I did make a very serious proposal this year both to his team and to him. I got a rejection. I know that he has one more year of a contract."
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Giannakopoulos was referencing Jokic's player option, which kicks in after the upcoming season and allows him to opt out of the final season of his deal if he so chooses.
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It's unclear what kind of compensation Giannakopoulos would describe as a "serious" attempt to attract Jokic, but it's likely in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
After all, Jokic has a total of $121.8 million left on his deal, Slater reports, and he's eligible for a maximum extension of up to four years and $278 million.
And that eye-popping figure is tens of millions less than what he's looking for, as he turned down that extension to wait for the 2027 summer.
"Jokic will become eligible to sign a five-year, $359.5 million extension with the Nuggets in July 2027, a contract that would be the largest in NBA history," Slater reports, crediting ESPN NBA front office insider Bobby Marks.
Not Dimitrios Giannakopoulos' First Go-Round With the Nuggets
If Giannakopoulos or Panathinaikos sound familiar to you, that's probably because this isn't the first time they've tried to woo a player from the NBA. It's not even the first time they've targeted a Nuggets center.
Jonas Valanciunas, who's playing in Lithuania this upcoming season, nearly left his role as Jokic's backup in Denver last year to join Panathinaikos, reports Kurt Helin of NBC Sports.
Valanciunas played 65 games for the Nuggets and averaged 8.7 points and 5.1 rebounds per game.
Now, he's taking his skills to Europe.
It remains to be seen if Jokic will follow him across the Atlantic come next season.
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