Aldridge: Gary Harris reaches 4-year, $84 million extension with Denver Nuggets

Shooting guard Gary Harris is staying in Denver.

Heading into the final year of his rookie deal, Harris has agreed to a four-year, $84 million extension with the Nuggets, per NBA.com’s David Aldridge.

Nuggets give one of their major pieces going forward, G Gary Harris, a four-year, $84 million extension, per league source.

— David Aldridge (@davidaldridgedc) October 8, 2017

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski first reported the deal, adding the contract will include $74 million guaranteed.

The deal will take into effect next summer and is set to make Harris the second-highest paid player on the team. Paul Millsap signed a three-year, $90 million deal with Denver earlier in the offseason.

The Michigan State product is coming off the best season of his young career, averaging 14.9 points per game on 42 percent shooting from long range (ranking among the top 10 league wide). He was one of just eight players who shot better than 50 percent on at least 50 3-point attempts from the corners.

Harris, 23, was drafted in the first round of the 2014 draft, the same year Denver selected Nikola Jokic in the second round. Both players are considered cornerstones for the Nuggets as the team trends in the right direction. Jokic is under contract for at least the 2017-18 season. He has a team option for 2018-19 that, if declined, would make him a restricted free agent next summer as opposed to an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2019.