Calvin Booth joined Sirius XM’s NBA Radio live from the Las Vegas Summer League and attempted to quash some of the noise around the Denver Nuggets contract extension talks with Jamal Murray.
The star guard didn’t slow any of the speculation last week when he blew off a question about the negotiations. But the general manager’s view should make Nuggets Nation put down some of the red flags surrounding the issue at hand.
“Jamal has been a staple of our program for the last eight years,” Booth told the show. “We’re very interested in getting something done with him. The Olympics are a big deal. And I think he’s having to focus on getting through that. When he gets back into it, I don’t think there will be much of a negotiation.”
If Booth’s words match the Nuggets intended actions, this should put Nuggets fans at ease, given the max number they can offer to Murray is set in stone and that’s likely the value both sides believe the player is worth.
The first chatter of an extension took place on NBA Draft night back at the end of June when Shams Charania reported that the Nuggets would offer the Blue Arrow a four-year, $209 million maximum deal with the expectation that both sides would agree. Given Murray is currently playing for Team Canada and has a history of leg injuries—one would assume that both Denver would want to lock in Jamal to the deal to get it done and that the player would want the safety of taking the money before taking the risk of playing for his country ahead of a contract year—especially since the money would be the exact same in June as it would be later in this offseason. With that, there have been a lot of theories and some reports thrown out there as to why the deal wasn’t actually done. Those range from just waiting out the Olympics to contract clauses and non-guarantees. But if there won’t be much of a negotiation, the contract the Nuggets present likely won’t have anything funky in it that could possibly tick off Murray meaning the $209 million maximum deal should be pretty straight forward.
One of the things that was reported and has been talked about is the possibility of clauses tied into fitness, which have some credibility given Booth spoke poorly of Murray’s shape after the Nuggets postseason run was cut short.
“Cumulative fatigue is always a factor… so I don’t think it’s fair to try to evaluate his conditioning,” Booth said on Sunday.
“I think, guys have to experience it… like playing that deep into the season playing that kind of minutes and carrying that kind of load. From what I hear from Canada’s practice, he looks good and in shape. Obviously, that scrimmage the other day, got up and down a little bit. It was just an average game for him. But I think he’ll show up.”
Booth was kinder about the Blue Arrow’s most recent game for Canada than the boxscore was, showing the guard hitting just two of his eight shots over 17 minutes of play as Canada fell to Team USA 86-72. And it’s following a postseason where Murray struggled. In truth, Murray’s follow-up to his incredible title run was up and down overall. Last season, Murray averaged career highs in points per game (21.2,) assists per game (6.5,) and shooting (48.1%) but his injuries really hampered the team and he failed to get the All-Star nod he has sought for years.
Even after the interview, there’s reason for some doubt given Booth’s last thoughts on the topic, sharing that any clauses in the contract would be kept between Murray’s folks and the Nuggets—meaning there could be something in the deal. But ultimately, as has been the truth the whole time, it’s obvious both sides want to get an extension done with each other.
“We look at Jamal as a star player,” Booth said. “So when you look at him like that, he’s probably going to end up getting what he deserves.”
