After the Nuggets lost to the Lakers today, the Nuggets also ended their ten-game winning streak against the Lakers, and at the same time the series did not have a chance to sweep the Lakers, but they still led the Lakers by a score of 3-1, and I believe that it is only a matter of time before they eliminate the Lakers, and just now the NBA came to the news that Murray rejected the Nuggets' 4-year $160 million maximum salary renewal contract, insisting on asking for a 5-year $250 million super maximum salary contract, and Porter Jr. is currently signing a 5-year $186 million maximum salary contract, which of the two of them is more important to the Nuggets！
James Murray
Although this season's Nuggets are still a strong contender for the championship, their lineup doesn't seem to last long! Because the Nuggets' super starting lineup has the blessing of last year's championship, the Nuggets are currently facing the problem of renewing their contracts, because they all want the maximum salary or even the super maximum salary, and the most difficult problem for the Nuggets is Murray, the contract he wants is too big, so in order to renew him, he may have to give up Porter Jr., who was previously considered unstable by the Nuggets!
Michael Porter Jr
Murray averaged 21.5 points, 5 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game in the four games of the series against the Lakers, while Porter was 22 points and 9.3 rebounds, the two are not much different, but Porter is more stable and more efficient, and his big jump shot is not something that ordinary defenders can prevent, but Murray has completed the defeat against the Lakers in G2! And Murray is the kind of player who is stronger in the playoffs than in the regular season. Therefore, these two Nuggets are definitely going to stay, and compared to the 4-year $160 million contract that Pop and Gordon want, I believe the Nuggets are estimated to find a replacement for Gordon and Pop in the offseason!
Aaron Gordon
And if you look at Murray from another angle, you'll see that he's really strong. We all know that there will be a lot of players in the playoffs who will have a decline in statistics, but in the Nuggets, there are two players who score a lot higher in the playoffs than in the regular season, these two are Jokic and Murray, of which Jokic has 6.5 points more points in the playoffs than in the regular season, and Murray is 7.5 points higher, so many games that the Nuggets lose in the regular season are because they don't want to win, not because they can't win, this is the strength of the defending champions!
Jokic