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Nikola Jokic (left)
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David Zalubowski/AP
Serbian basketball superstar Nikola Jokic is set to extend his contract with the Denver Nuggets for a record five-year deal.
According to media reports, the 27-year-old, who has been voted the most valuable NBA player twice in a row, will receive around 264 million US dollars, according to ESPN and The Athletic.
It would be the largest contract in NBA history.
Other professionals also took advantage of the good economic situation in the league after the Corona damper and some agreed on gigantic new contracts.
For example, Bradley Beal received a five-year contract with the Washington Wizards at the start of free agency, which is worth 251 million US dollars.
Because of the rules in the NBA, the deals can only be officially signed from July 6th.
Despite all the mega deals, most of the attention on the first day of the open transfer window in the NBA belonged to Kevin Durant.
Because the 33-year-old superstar, one of the best basketball players in history, wants to leave the Brooklyn Nets.
He deposited this wish with the team, reported the major US media such as the New York Times, Washington Post and ESPN on Thursday (local time), citing their own sources.
Durant's future is open
The three-time Olympic champion is said to personally favor a future with the Phoenix Suns or the Miami Heat, but it's still unclear which team will be in the running for his services - and if it will be one of the two.
According to the AP news agency, Durant's contract has four years left and guarantees him nearly $200 million during that time.
Interested teams would have to offer the Nets an enormous package of other players and rights to future drafts in order to get the deal done.
The only thing that seems clear so far is that the Nets' hopes for the title have burst for the foreseeable future.
Just twelve months ago, many experts were expecting the beginning of an era for the team around the three superstars Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving - but these forecasts turned out to be misjudgements over the course of the season.
Irving was often absent because he wasn't allowed to play because he didn't have a corona vaccination, Harden was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers and Durant was injured several times.
Irving opted for a final year of contract and thus a salary of 36.9 million US dollars for the coming season.
But Durant apparently no longer believes in a sporting perspective with him and would rather try elsewhere to win the NBA title for a third time in his career.
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