Nuggets salary cap space: How Jamal Murray's max contract extension affects Denver's payroll

The Nuggets have locked up their star guard next to Nikola Jokic for the long term. 

Denver inked Jamal Murray to a four-year max contract extension as the 2024-25 NBA season approaches, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Saturday. Murray averaged 21.2 points and 6.5 assists last season for the Nuggets.  

The deal sets up the Nuggets' core of Jokic, Murray, Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon, all of whom won a title together in 2023, to stick together in pursuit of another championship run.

Here's a look at Murray's new contract and how it affects the Nuggets' cap space moving forward. 

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Jamal Murray contract details

Murray signed a four-year, $208 million contract extension, per Wojnarowksi.

The deal will kick in after next season, as Murray is set to earn $36 million in 2024-25. By the time the extension expires, Murray, now 27, will be 32 years old. Here's a look at his new year-by-year salary.

Drafted by Denver seventh overall in 2016, Murray has ascended over time as a go-to scorer and playmaker alongside Jokic. Last season, the Canadian star tied his career high in points per game and set new career highs in assists per game, field goal percentage and three-point percentage.

The Nuggets are committed to their current core for the foreseeable future with Murray's extension in the books.

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Denver Nuggets salary cap space

Murray's extension doesn't kick in until next offseason, so it doesn't impact Denver's immediate financial situation. 

Denver currently sits $10.9 million over the tax threshold, $4.1 million over the first apron and $7.8 million below the second apron, per ESPN's Bobby Marks. 

Murray would have been a free agent in 2025 without his new deal. Looking at the 2025-26 season, Gordon has a $25.4 million player option, making him the only player capable of breaking up Denver's core in the near future. However, he'll soon be extension eligible as well.

Before Murray's extension, Spotrac estimated Denver to be around $54 million over the cap for 2024-25. That's largely the reason the Nuggets' front office was limited in adding talent around Jokic, Murray, Gordon and Porter Jr. this summer, as they let starting shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope leave for Orlando. 

Denver did bring in forward Dario Saric and 36-year-old Russell Westbrook as reinforcements. 

The financial situation could get tougher in the future for Denver: Spotrac currently estimates the team to be around $70 million over the cap in 2025-26. 

The cost of maintaining a championship-level team is extremely high in today's NBA, and the Nuggets are a perfect example of that. Murray's extension assures they'll keep their core together through their primes but will be limited in building depth around it.

Denver Nuggets payroll

Here's a look at the cap hit for each active Nuggets player in 2024-25 per Spotrac, which adds up to a whopping $182.57 million active cap total that ranks seventh total in the league behind the Suns, Timberwolves, Celtics, Bucks, Lakers and Heat.