Reasons why Jokić might be available for free in 2027…see more

Jokić signed a five-year, $276 million contract that is slated to run through 2027-28. The MVP has a player-option for the 2027-28, meaning Jokić could become a free agent as soon as 2027.

Sports Business Journal’s Tom Friend reported that the NBA is on the verge of signing a $2.8 billion deal with ESPN, an estimated $2.5 million for the league to return to NBC and a $1.8 billion deal with Amazon. All this has the NBA projected to land total media deals topping a combined $7 billion.

“Industry sources believe ESPN will ultimately pay $2.8B annually — though other industry sources insist it is still an earlier reported $2.6B — for the league’s ‘A’ package, which includes the NBA Finals, a conference final, weekly primetime games, the WNBA and likely shared international rights,” Friend detailed in a May 22, 2024 story titled, “NBA formalizing deals with Disney, Amazon, NBC.”

“NBC’s proposed ‘B’ package is believed to be worth between $2.5B and $2.6B annually and would probably include a ‘Basketball Night in America’ or ‘Sunday Night Basketball’ following the NFL season, a total of two primetime windows a week, conference semifinals and a conference final,” Friend added.

“Amazon’s deal is believed to be worth between $1.8B and $2B and would likely include the Emirates In-Season Tournament, the SoFi Play-In Tournament, first-round playoff games, the WNBA and international rights.”