Nuggets, Zeke Nnaji agree to 4-year, $32 million extension.
The Denver Nuggets found themselves in need of bench retooling after winning the 2023 NBA championship. Bruce Brown and Jeff Green, the Nuggets’ top two bench options, left the team in free agency, so head coach Michael Malone was forced to play a looser rotation than usual. This season, the Nuggets were in need of a reserve big man because Green in particular served as their backup big man. However, they might already have the solution on hand. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Nuggets were able to reach an agreement with fourth-year big man Zeke Nnaji on a contract extension before the deadline for contract extensions this coming week.
As per Wojnarowski, the Nuggets contract extension with Zeke Nnaji is for four years and worth $32 million. It also includes a player option. Nnaji was originally drafted by the Nuggets with the No. 22 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. He has not been able to crack the Nuggets rotation in three seasons, but will presumably get the opportunity to play a larger role this upcoming season.
Nnaji played for the Nuggets in 53 games last year, making five starts, and averaged just under 14 minutes per game. He shot 56.1 percent from the field and 64.5 percent from the free throw line for a combined average of 5.2 points and 2.6 rebounds per game.
Although Nnaji entered the NBA as a power forward, he has also played center. Despite not having much to show in the NBA so far, the organization obviously trusted him enough to sign him to this extension.
