Nikola Jokic’s impending contract decision has dominated the Nuggets’ offseason. The 3x MVP continues to delay signing his supermax extension despite repeatedly expressing his commitment to Denver. While much of the attention centered on his decision, another development inside his inner circle has quietly strengthened his negotiating power. 

According to Serbian outlet Meridian Sport, Jokic’s middle brother, Nemanja Jokic, has officially become an NBPA-certified NBA agent after clearing a rigorous certification process. The development that was widely confirmed in the basketball world.

The certification marks more than just a career milestone for Nemanja.

To earn the NBPA (National Basketball Players Association) certificate, Nemanja had to have the CBA, salary cap mechanics, trade restrictions, and contract structures at his fingertips. This will allow him to enter the negotiating framework rather than simply serving as Nikola’s trusted adviser.

For years, Nikola Jokic relied on outside representation while Nemanja remained an influential figure behind the scenes. Misko Raznatovic, a European agent of the BeoBasket Agency, alongside Excel Sports Management, remained as the outside representation.

That dynamic might change now.

The Nuggets can no longer view him solely as an older brother. He now understands the same financial rules that shape the negotiations between executives and agents.

Importantly, the 41-year-old’s journey to this point began long before Nikola entered the league.

Nemanja played college basketball at the University of Detroit Mercy and later at C.W. Post (now LIU Post), giving him an early understanding of the American basketball system.

When Nikola arrived in Denver as a 20-year-old rookie in 2015- a year after being drafted 41st overall in the second round of the 2014 NBA Draft- his elder brothers (Strahinja, the eldest, and Nemanja, the middle brother) helped him build a stable environment. They shifted their base to the US, trusting their younger brother.

The protective role has now evolved into a boardroom role. The timing of it is also impeccable.

Nikola Jokic remains eligible to sign a 4-year, $278 million supermax extension this offseason, a figure that assumes he voids his existing player option. Instead, multiple reports indicate he plans to wait another year, a decision that would maximize his long-term earnings.

Either pathway, voiding the option for the four-year $278 million deal or exercising it and adding a three-year extension, would make Jokic the highest-paid player in NBA history on an annual basis, with an average salary approaching $70 million per year.

This decision also gives the Nuggets additional time to reshape their roster amid second-apron tax struggles.

The Nuggets’ second-apron pressure gives Nikola Jokić added leverage

With the restrictive second-apron threshold in place, the league restricts the team’s several roster-building tools. 

With Nikola Jokic ($59 million), Jamal Murray ($50.1 million), Aaron Gordon ($31.9 million), Cameron Johnson ($23 million), and Christian Braun ($21.5 million), the Nuggets have a total salary placed well above the second apron slab. Meaning, roster changes have become difficult.

That reality has already influenced the franchise’s thinking.

Immediately after the 2026 postseason exit, Nuggets president Josh Kroenke stated that every player outside of the 2023 Finals MVP could come under the hammer.

The team has actively looked for ways to improve the roster while reducing long-term salary commitments.

Insiders continue to link the Nuggets with big roster moves. Aaron Gordon has reportedly drawn strong interest from teams, including the Heat, Blazers, and Celtics. At the same time, the team remains connected to speculations around Jaylen Brown.

That move could cut ties with long-term guard Jamal Murray due to major salary concerns. In some cases, Cameron Johnson has also emerged as a trading variable.

Here, Nemanja Jokic’s new credentials come into play. As a certified NBPA agent, he now has the knowledge to analyze the variables behind the Nuggets’ decisions. 

If the Nuggets front office tries to justify moving a key piece by pointing to second-apron penalties, Nemanja can now sit across the table and tell them whether that actually adds up or whether it’s just convenient framing.

That’s a genuinely new dynamic. For years, the financial side of Nikola’s career has run through Raznatovic and Excel Sports. They were the ones who understood the cap sheets, the trade restrictions, the contract structures.

The Jokic family trusted them, but they were still outsiders to those conversations in the technical sense.

Nemanja changes that. He’s not just a protective older brother anymore. He’s someone who passed the same exam, knows the same rulebook, and can read between the lines of whatever the Nuggets put in front of them.

With Nikola now expected to hold off on signing until next summer, Denver is running out of runway. They need to show him and the people around him that this roster can compete again. Because if they can’t make a convincing case, Nemanja will be the first to notice. And that’s a problem the Nuggets didn’t have before.