BREAKIN' NEWS: Jamal Murray and the Denver Nuggets have agreed to a significant contract extension that will keep Murray in the Mile High City for the ensuing five years.

Jamal Murray agrees to goliath $208 million contract extension

The Denver Nuggets and Jamal Murray have reached a massive contract extension that will keep the guard in the Mile High City for the next half-decade.

Murray has been a star for the Nuggets as they’ve made several deep playoffs runs in the last few seasons behind the like of Murray and Nikola Jokić. Murray averaged a career-best 21.2 points per game a season ago.

Since tearing his ACL and missing the entire 2021-2022 season, Murray has seen a resurgence in his career, averaging 20 points per game during the 2022-2023 season and then topped that last season.

Jamal Murray agrees to goliath $208 million contract extension with Denver Nuggets - A Sea Of Blue

Murray’s high-profile nature really starts to shine in the playoffs, where he’s averaged north of 20 points per game in all four of his trips. He notched 26.1 per game during the Nuggets 2023 NBA Championship run, shooting 39.6% from behind the arc.

A huge reason they wanted to keep Murray locked up was because of how well he plays with multi-time MVP Jokic. Murray and Jokic have a virtually unstoppable pick-and-roll that will undoubtedly continue to haunt other NBA teams in the coming years.

That said, this is a huge payday for another former standout Wildcats star!

Evaluating Brock Vandagriff’s Week 2 performance vs. South Carolina

Brock Vandagriff had a promising debut against Southern Miss, throwing for 169 yards (12/18) and three touchdowns and rushing for 35 more yards in the shortened contest. After the game, he received approval from his coaches, teammates, and the Big Blue Nation.

Jamal Murray agrees to goliath $208 million contract extension with Denver Nuggets - A Sea Of Blue

However, there were still some questions, given the level of competition. How did he fare in his first SEC contest in Week 2 against South Carolina?

Bad. Simply bad.

A big part of that was the lack of protection from the offensive line. As a result, with little time to throw, this limited the pass attempts as Vandagriff threw the ball just six times in the first half, five of which came in the first quarter, for a total of 30 yards.

Even on his rushing attempts, Vandagriff had few openings, running for just six non-sack yards, with his longest being just four yards. With the three sacks he took, his rushing yards were actually negative, -19.

With the poor protection and Vandagriff “running for his life” metaphorically, the play-calling was rather conservative from Bush Hamdan. At one point in the half, the Wildcats ran the ball 18 straight times.

The second half started with more of the same. After the Kentucky defense got Kroger Field to its loudest of the day, the offense followed it with a three-and-out on the first drive, which included a 12-yard sack.

Jamal Murray agrees to goliath $208 million contract extension with Denver Nuggets - A Sea Of Blue

After a pair of South Carolina TDs, Vandagriff threw a pick-six that put the game out of reach early in the fourth quarter before being benched for Gavin Wimsatt, who also threw a pick.

Vandagriff finished the game 3/10 passing for 30 yards and the pick-six. He had nine runs for -29 yards. While he can’t be blamed for the entire offensive debacle, he’s got to play better for this team to have any chance of reaching bowl eligibility.

While Vandagriff will get the starting nod against Georgia next week, you have to wonder how short of a leash he’ll have moving forward after this disastrous outing.