Why Jokic, Giannis, Towns and Anthony Davis aren’t bound by Monday’s extension deadline

NEW YORK — Oct. 14, 2026 — Monday at 5 p.m. Central is the last day for most extension talks before the 2026-27 season tips off. But four of the biggest contracts in the league are not bound by it. Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Davis can all keep negotiating until June 30, according to a breakdown by ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

Why these four get extra time

The Oct. 19 cutoff applies to rookie-scale players and to veterans with two years left on their deals, not counting an option year. Celtics guard Payton Pritchard fits that group. Players with one year left have until June 30. So do players with two years left when the final season is a player option, and that is where Jokic, Antetokounmpo, Towns and Davis sit. Marks noted the catch: for any of them to extend after Oct. 19, the player option has to be removed and replaced by the first year of the new deal.

Jokic: the biggest payday comes as a free agent

For the second straight offseason, Jokic will not extend in Denver, and Marks wrote that it has nothing to do with being unhappy with the Nuggets. Waiting until the 2027 offseason makes him eligible for a five-year, $359.5 million contract as a free agent. That would be the largest deal in NBA history and push his career on-court earnings to about $724 million.

Giannis: January is the real date

Antetokounmpo has been extension-eligible with Miami since Oct. 1, but at a lower ceiling because he was traded on July 6. Today he could sign for three years and $194 million or two years and $135.1 million. On Jan. 6, six months after the trade, a four-year, $276 million extension opens up, replacing his $62.8 million player option. If he waits for free agency instead, Marks put the Heat’s ceiling at five years and $357 million, which would lift his career on-court earnings to about $754 million, the most in league history.

Towns: the second apron is the holdup

Towns has been eligible for up to four years and $276 million since the Finals ended, and he has said he wants a deal that keeps the team together. The Knicks have said they will not negotiate extensions until later in the season. Marks traced it to second-apron math: with Towns’ $61 million player option for 2027-28, New York likely goes over that line, and a big Jalen Brunson raise is coming. Owner James Dolan said after the Finals that the Knicks will not exceed the second apron.

Davis: decision after the season

Davis, 33, has been eligible since early August for up to four years and $275 million, replacing a $62 million player option that closes out the three-year, $175 million deal he signed with the Lakers. He has not played for Washington since the trade-deadline deal, and he has missed the 60-game mark in five of the past six seasons. At media day he said he would sit down with the front office “when the season is over.” Earlier this month, reports said Davis wants a max or near-max extension, which the Wizards are unlikely to offer.

Who still has to decide by Monday

The Oct. 19 group still includes Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton, Pascal Siakam, Jaylen Brown, Zion Williamson, Ja Morant, Domantas Sabonis, Desmond Bane and Deni Avdija, Marks listed. Minnesota’s Jaden McDaniels is eligible for two years and $87 million, which would not start until 2029-30 because three years remain on his current deal.

Since July, 11 potential free agents have extended, including Kawhi Leonard, Stephen Curry and Donovan Mitchell. For the four stars who can wait, the calendar is a bargaining chip.