Panathinaikos Owner Says He Made “Serious” Bid to Buy Nikola Jokic Out of Nuggets Deal, Vows to Try Again in 2027

Panathinaikos owner Dimitrios Giannakopoulos confirmed he made a real financial pitch to pry Nikola Jokic away from the Denver Nuggets this offseason, revealing on the “Euro Insiders” podcast that he tried to buy out the final guaranteed year of the three-time MVP’s contract. Denver said no almost instantly. Giannakopoulos says he is not done trying.

The claim, first reported by ESPN’s Anthony Slater, adds a genuine wrinkle to what had been viewed as a settled situation in Denver. Jokic, 31, has spent his entire 11-year career with the Nuggets, delivering a 2023 championship and Finals MVP alongside three regular-season MVP trophies. He is coming off a season in which he averaged a triple-double — 27.7 points, 12.9 rebounds and 10.7 assists per game — and is widely regarded as the best player on the planet.

What Giannakopoulos Actually Offered

“I did make a very serious proposal this year, both to his team and to him,” Giannakopoulos told the podcast, according to Slater. “I got a rejection. I know that he has one more year of a contract.” The Panathinaikos owner, who built his fortune running the Greek pharmaceutical company Vianex, described Denver’s response bluntly: “It took a few seconds [for the Nuggets] to say, ‘Who? Greece? Where? What? Bye.’ But let’s wait until next year.”

The mechanics matter here. Jokic has two seasons and $121.8 million remaining on his current deal, but the second season — 2027-28, worth $62.8 million — is a player option. That means Jokic can walk into unrestricted free agency next summer without needing Denver’s cooperation at all, which is exactly the scenario Giannakopoulos is circling. He has already signaled he plans to pursue Jokic again once that option year arrives, even encouraging reporters to call Jokic’s agent, Misko Raznatovic, to verify how serious this summer’s approach really was.

Complicating Panathinaikos’ pitch is the money on the table domestically. Jokic became eligible for a four-year, $278 million max extension with Denver in June and passed on it — not because he wants out, but reportedly for financial timing. By waiting until July 2027, he becomes eligible for a five-year, $359.5 million supermax extension with the Nuggets, which would be the largest contract in NBA history, according to ESPN front office insider Bobby Marks. Jokic has stated publicly that his “idea and desire” is to finish his career in Denver. Matching or beating a $359.5 million domestic offer with EuroLeague revenue is, by any realistic financial measure, not something Panathinaikos can do.

Why Bettors Should Still Pay Attention

None of this looks like it’s moving a betting line today — but it’s exactly the kind of offseason smoke that futures markets are built to price in advance. Jokic currently sits near the top of the 2026-27 NBA MVP board at roughly +550, behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Victor Wembanyama, while Denver’s championship futures cluster in the +2000 to +2500 range across major books, making the Nuggets a top-five title contender entering the season. Jokic is also priced at +2800 for Finals MVP, tied for the fifth-shortest odds in the field.

Those numbers reflect a market that assumes continuity in Denver — Jokic healthy, engaged, and playing out the string toward that record-setting 2027 extension. A rumor with no contract mechanism behind it shouldn’t move those futures on its own, and it hasn’t. But any story that puts a number, even a hypothetical one, next to “Jokic” and “free agency” is worth filing away for bettors holding long-term Nuggets futures or MVP tickets. If Denver stumbles this season, or if there’s any real hesitation from Jokic about that extension next July, this is the storyline that resurfaces and the one sportsbooks will start pricing risk around. For now, the smart read is that the Nuggets’ championship window and Jokic’s MVP odds remain priced on merit — but Giannakopoulos has put a flag in the ground for 2027, and futures bettors should know it’s there.