Ill-fated Zeke Nnaji contract continues to haunt Nuggets

Even without a resolution to Peyton Watson's restricted free agency, the Denver Nuggets are the lone NBA team above the second luxury tax apron. That's in part thanks to an ill-fated extension they gave a big man who has averaged 3.4 points and 2.1 rebounds over the life of his deal.

Zeke Nnaji signed a four-year deal for $32M in 2023, after the Nuggets won the NBA title. Despite his having done very little in three NBA seasons, former Nuggets GM Calvin Booth made a rich and costly bet on improvement from Nnaji that never came.

Denver Nuggets gave Zeke Nnaji reckless contract

In 2023, Nnaji only averaged 5.2 points and 2.6 rebounds, scoring a total of five points in the team's Finals run, though he shot 71 percent from two-point range in the regular season. Still, guaranteeing four seasons was a big gamble, especially with Nnaji getting a player option in the final year, 2027-28.

It was a gamble the Nuggets didn't have to make. They had a full season left to evaluate Nnaji before he even became a restricted free agent, when they'd have had the chance to match any offers — which wouldn't have been nearly as high, after nearly all Nnaji's numbers plummeted in 2023-24.

Now their hands are tied when it comes to retaining Watson, a far more necessary player than Nnaji. The team is over the second apron and may need to attach both second-round picks they got from trading down in this year's draft just to dump their expensive mistake.

Zeke Nnaji is part of a bad Denver Nuggets trend

It's a common trend with the Nuggets, who have constantly paid a premium to keep their own players. Jamal Murray signed two separate maximum extensions before ever making an All-Star team. Denver gave Michael Porter, Jr. a maximum extension in 2021 after he played 116 games in his first three seasons, then saw him suit up for only nine games in 2021-22.

The most recent overpay came when Denver gave Christian Braun a five-year contract for $125M, once again a year ahead of his restricted free agency. He averaged 12 points last season and shot 30.1 percent on three-pointers, hardly $25M per year production.

There were 10 restricted free agents, and only two changed teams. One of them, Walker Kessler, got the Utah Jazz two first-round picks and two swaps when he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Nuggets either don't understand their leverage in restricted free agency or they overvalue their own players, or both.

Murray and Braun are overpaid. Nnaji is wildly overpaid. The Nuggets had to trade a first-round pick to dump Porter's contract last summer.

Denver's failure to negotiate hard with their own players has put them in dire salary cap straits. With Nikola Jokic declining to sign an extension, he can become a free agent next summer. The team's financial handcuffs and inability to add players to the core could lead to the team losing their three-time MVP.

Nnaji has had an unremarkable career, but he may go down as the player who cost the Nuggets Jokic. He certainly may cost them Peyton Watson.