Josh Kroenke stopped the hearts of Nuggets fans on Tuesday when he brought up the idea of trading away Nikola Jokic if the Nuggets were to get themselves into a real sticky situation with the salary cap and the second apron. People all around the NBA understood the point he was trying to make, but were very confused as to why he would even bring that up in the first place.
Unprompted, Josh Kroenke mentions trading Nikola Jokić — even if it’s just a hypothetical:
“For us as an organization going into that second apron is not necessarily something that we’re scared of, I think that there are rules around it that we needed to be very careful of with… pic.twitter.com/chXdnITQIy
— Denver Sports 104.3 (@DenSports1043) June 24, 2025
He was referring to a situation like what the Milwaukee Bucks are currently experiencing, as Damian Lillard is likely to miss all of next season while the championship window surrounding Giannis Antetokounmpo is dwindling. There were plenty of rumors regarding the Bucks potentially trading the Greek Freak after they were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, but it seems like he’ staying put after all.
If Jamal Murray were to have another big injury while making over $50 million, the Nuggets would more than likely be over the second apron with a not-so-good chance of winning a title. If it were towards the end of Jokic’s championship window, then there could possibly be a conversation about blowing everything up to start a rebuild as soon as possible with the assets received in a potential Jokic trade.
Still, you don’t bring that up, especially when unprompted, and especially when talking about a guy who has never hinted at wanting to leave the Nuggets unless it were to go back home to Serbia.
Nuggets fans were given a major sigh of relief on Wednesday thanks to Shams Charania, ESPN’s Senior NBA Insider.
“I know personally that Josh Kroenke would never consider or want to trade Nikola Jokic..
People around Denver know that and Jokic doesn’t want to be traded” ~ @ShamsCharania #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/g7ceNZZkkx
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) June 25, 2025
“The way I looked at it is it was an analogy,” Charania said on the Pat McAfee Show. “I know personally that Josh Kroenke would never consider or want to trade Nikola Jokic.”
Charania went on to mention the current situation with the Boston Celtics as well, who have dismantled their championship roster with a handful of trades in the wake of the Jayson Tatum injury in order to get under the dreaded second apron. With the current Collective Bargaining Agreement in place until the end of the 2029-30 season, this fear isn’t going anywhere for teams with multiple stars on the roster anytime soon.
“I think this was a great analogy, I guess a good analogy in his mind, clearly, I don’t know if it went across the right way,” Charania said.
At the end of the day, Jokic is not going to get traded. The Nuggets organization seems to know what they have in front of them, and know that they have to do everything in their power to maximize this championship window.
