Is Nikola Jokic a franchise level talent?

[NuggetsWY]

A stronger, fitter Jokic is a scary beast. Real Celtic fans have lusted after him since the middle of last season. He is so much fun to watch on offense. When the Nuggets mature and if they keep hitting homeruns in the draft they are going to be a great team. His body reminds me of a 45 year old guy who works in accounting, but damn he is a skilled player.

Yup, we know loads of Celtic fans have lusted for Jokic for a while. We've had lots of Celtic fans posting about how little they would give because Jokic was too young, had too little playing time, couldn't jump, ya-da-ya-da-ya-da. In the same post, the same guy would try to persuade us of how great various Celtic bench players were and we should trade for them. When we'd respond with a "not even close to interested", they'd usually make a rather negative comment regarding our IQ (or something like all that).

On the other hand, I must admit, there were some Celtic fans that actually understood why we wanted to keep Jokic. Personally, I began screaming and crying for him to be a starter last year (or at least 10 mpg more than he got).

Thanks for the observation!

P.S. There are plenty of Celtics I would love to see on the Nuggets; but not at the expense of Jokic or Murray and probably not at the expense of a couple other guys too, but they're negotiable.

[mbsnmisc]

A stronger, fitter Jokic is a scary beast. Real Celtic fans have lusted after him since the middle of last season. He is so much fun to watch on offense. When the Nuggets mature and if they keep hitting homeruns in the draft they are going to be a great team. His body reminds me of a 45 year old guy who works in accounting, but damn he is a skilled player.

Yup, we know loads of Celtic fans have lusted for Jokic for a while. We've had lots of Celtic fans posting about how little they would give because Jokic was too young, had too little playing time, couldn't jump, ya-da-ya-da-ya-da. In the same post, the same guy would try to persuade us of how great various Celtic bench players were and we should trade for them. When we'd respond with a "not even close to interested", they'd usually make a rather negative comment regarding our IQ (or something like all that).

On the other hand, I must admit, there were some Celtic fans that actually understood why we wanted to keep Jokic. Personally, I began screaming and crying for him to be a starter last year (or at least 10 mpg more than he got).

Thanks for the observation!

P.S. There are plenty of Celtics I would love to see on the Nuggets; but not at the expense of Jokic or Murray and probably not at the expense of a couple other guys too, but they're negotiable.

There are always trolls. I don't think the C's and the Nuggets match up well as trade partners. We both have a timeline that really begins in about 3 years. Plus both of our GM's like to win trades.

If you want to trade Jokic we would maybe give you Jordan Mickey. Maybe. You would probably have to attach a first round pick.

[NuggetsWY]

A stronger, fitter Jokic is a scary beast. Real Celtic fans have lusted after him since the middle of last season. He is so much fun to watch on offense. When the Nuggets mature and if they keep hitting homeruns in the draft they are going to be a great team. His body reminds me of a 45 year old guy who works in accounting, but damn he is a skilled player.

Yup, we know loads of Celtic fans have lusted for Jokic for a while. We've had lots of Celtic fans posting about how little they would give because Jokic was too young, had too little playing time, couldn't jump, ya-da-ya-da-ya-da. In the same post, the same guy would try to persuade us of how great various Celtic bench players were and we should trade for them. When we'd respond with a "not even close to interested", they'd usually make a rather negative comment regarding our IQ (or something like all that).

On the other hand, I must admit, there were some Celtic fans that actually understood why we wanted to keep Jokic. Personally, I began screaming and crying for him to be a starter last year (or at least 10 mpg more than he got).

Thanks for the observation!

P.S. There are plenty of Celtics I would love to see on the Nuggets; but not at the expense of Jokic or Murray and probably not at the expense of a couple other guys too, but they're negotiable.

There are always trolls. I don't think the C's and the Nuggets match up well as trade partners. We both have a timeline that really begins in about 3 years. Plus both of our GM's like to win trades.

If you want to trade Jokic we would maybe give you Jordan Mickey. Maybe. You would probably have to attach a first round pick.

Not a good match was what I decided early on also. It's too bad too because I thought Nurkic would have been perfect for Boston. It would have moved Horford back to more PF where he can do even more damage. But ...

So, on behalf of the Nuggets, I accept your trade offer of Jordan Mickey and your two Brooklyn picks for Mike Miller.

[FlatearthZorro]

He absolutely is. Mike Malone needs to be fired, Jokic needs to work on his conditioning big time this off-season.

Dude has the body of a professional poker player. If he's fit he'd be a legit top 20 player in the league candidate in the near future.

[ShotCreator]

He absolutely is. Mike Malone needs to be fired, Jokic needs to work on his conditioning big time this off-season.

Dude has the body of a professional poker player. If he's fit he'd be a legit top 20 player in the league candidate in the near future.

He's (oh-so quietly) having a top 10 - 15 season right now. He's tiers above what Cousins was at 22, and clearly better than last year Davis. Arguably this year's Davis as well.


Physically, I think he's very similar to Cousins. Long arms, big, strong, body that eats up space, and not very fast. Deceptively quick in spots. Only Cousins is a bit longer and a bit heavier. Hell, even his game is very similar, he's just way more skilled. Mainly as a shooter and passer. They play the same kind of defense, highly physical at the rim despite lack of blocks, and cleans up the defensive boards at an elite level. Cousins and Jokic are weak PNR defenders, Jokic has shown he can adapt to different schemes and bet better over the course of the game at it, though.

[Sir Psycho Sexy]

I just hate the defense that Denver plays. It's just wrong from the foundation. It's made like they have Gobert and Beverly on pg and c and not Nelson and Jokic.

[FlatearthZorro]

He absolutely is. Mike Malone needs to be fired, Jokic needs to work on his conditioning big time this off-season.

Dude has the body of a professional poker player. If he's fit he'd be a legit top 20 player in the league candidate in the near future.

He's (oh-so quietly) having a top 10 - 15 season right now. He's tiers above what Cousins was at 22, and clearly better than last year Davis. Arguably this year's Davis as well.


Physically, I think he's very similar to Cousins. Long arms, big, strong, body that eats up space, and not very fast. Deceptively quick in spots. Only Cousins is a bit longer and a bit heavier. Hell, even his game is very similar, he's just way more skilled. Mainly as a shooter and passer. They play the same kind of defense, highly physical at the rim despite lack of blocks, and cleans up the defensive boards at an elite level. Cousins and Jokic are weak PNR defenders, Jokic has shown he can adapt to different schemes and bet better over the course of the game at it, though.

He's not better than Davis. He's on a better team than Davis, he's not better than Davis. Davis is way too long, skilled, athletic for Jokic. Jokic might be a better passer and that's about it. Davis is probably the best 2 way big in the league when he's at his best.

[ShotCreator]

Dude has the body of a professional poker player. If he's fit he'd be a legit top 20 player in the league candidate in the near future.

He's (oh-so quietly) having a top 10 - 15 season right now. He's tiers above what Cousins was at 22, and clearly better than last year Davis. Arguably this year's Davis as well.


Physically, I think he's very similar to Cousins. Long arms, big, strong, body that eats up space, and not very fast. Deceptively quick in spots. Only Cousins is a bit longer and a bit heavier. Hell, even his game is very similar, he's just way more skilled. Mainly as a shooter and passer. They play the same kind of defense, highly physical at the rim despite lack of blocks, and cleans up the defensive boards at an elite level. Cousins and Jokic are weak PNR defenders, Jokic has shown he can adapt to different schemes and bet better over the course of the game at it, though.

He's not better than Davis. He's on a better team than Davis, he's not better than Davis. Davis is way too long, skilled, athletic for Jokic. Jokic might be a better passer and that's about it. Davis is probably the best 2 way big in the league when he's at his best.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/DEN/2016.html


http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/DEN/2017.html


There is almost no difference between last year's Nuggets and this year's, except Jokic's being so improved, and starting.

Jokic has drastically moved the needle with his play this season.

I don't even believe the Nuggets have a better team around Jokic. Several players have a clear efficiency boost, and that's almost certainly because of Jokic anchoring the offense out of the low and high post.

[NuggetsWY]

I just hate the defense that Denver plays. It's just wrong from the foundation. It's made like they have Gobert and Beverly on pg and c and not Nelson and Jokic.

Excuse me, I've been watching a lot of Nuggets games for the last couple of years. Could you please explain to me what this thing called "defense" is?

[mbsnmisc]

Yup, we know loads of Celtic fans have lusted for Jokic for a while. We've had lots of Celtic fans posting about how little they would give because Jokic was too young, had too little playing time, couldn't jump, ya-da-ya-da-ya-da. In the same post, the same guy would try to persuade us of how great various Celtic bench players were and we should trade for them. When we'd respond with a "not even close to interested", they'd usually make a rather negative comment regarding our IQ (or something like all that).

On the other hand, I must admit, there were some Celtic fans that actually understood why we wanted to keep Jokic. Personally, I began screaming and crying for him to be a starter last year (or at least 10 mpg more than he got).

Thanks for the observation!

P.S. There are plenty of Celtics I would love to see on the Nuggets; but not at the expense of Jokic or Murray and probably not at the expense of a couple other guys too, but they're negotiable.

There are always trolls. I don't think the C's and the Nuggets match up well as trade partners. We both have a timeline that really begins in about 3 years. Plus both of our GM's like to win trades.

If you want to trade Jokic we would maybe give you Jordan Mickey. Maybe. You would probably have to attach a first round pick.

Not a good match was what I decided early on also. It's too bad too because I thought Nurkic would have been perfect for Boston. It would have moved Horford back to more PF where he can do even more damage. But ...

So, on behalf of the Nuggets, I accept your trade offer of Jordan Mickey and your two Brooklyn picks for Mike Miller.

I agree on Nurkic being a good fit. Al is a little undersized for the 5, but IMO he is too slow to play the 4. Our best, (closing), lineup is IT, Avery, Jae, Marcus and Al. I think Nurkic would have started, eaten up all of the random Zeller minutes, and pushed Amir to the second team. I don't know if Jusuf would have accepted that role.

Apparently you have not been keeping up with the ACB. We have the Croatian Kareem stashed in Turkey playing for Darussafaka. He is similar in style to Nurkic. Not quite as big, but I think he can play.

I watch quite a bit of Nugs games. I live on the East Coast. Those Mountain time zone games are usually in the second half after I watch the C's. They are a fun team. Jokic throws about 10 passes every game that are incredible. The angles and touch he possesses on backdoors is just special.

You guys laid the smackdown on us twice this year, hopefully we will meet in the Finals.

Good luck.

[NuggetsWY]

I agree on Nurkic being a good fit. Al is a little undersized for the 5, but IMO he is too slow to play the 4. Our best, (closing), lineup is IT, Avery, Jae, Marcus and Al. I think Nurkic would have started, eaten up all of the random Zeller minutes, and pushed Amir to the second team. I don't know if Jusuf would have accepted that role.

Apparently you have not been keeping up with the ACB. We have the Croatian Kareem stashed in Turkey playing for Darussafaka. He is similar in style to Nurkic. Not quite as big, but I think he can play.

I watch quite a bit of Nugs games. I live on the East Coast. Those Mountain time zone games are usually in the second half after I watch the C's. They are a fun team. Jokic throws about 10 passes every game that are incredible. The angles and touch he possesses on backdoors is just special.

You guys laid the smackdown on us twice this year, hopefully we will meet in the Finals.

Good luck.

Yeah, I hear you on Nurkic but I think with the right coach, he'd have been happy with 24 mpg and I think your coach would have handled him just fine. I don't think (my opinion), it was about starting or major minutes. I suspect it was more being taken from starter to DNP-CD without explanation.

The Celtics have depth, that's for sure and perhaps a scorer such as Gallinari coming off the bench would be even better than a center. Hard to say.

We do know that few Nuggets games are broadcast anywhere outside of the mountains. Then again, the only Celtics games we see are nationally broadcast - of course there are a lot more of those.

If we meet you this year in the finals, I'd love it - win or lose. But after this year, I'd love to meet the Celtics in the finals and we'll bring the brooms.

[McNuggets]

21/12/4 in first half against the Pacers. Yep the kid is pretty good...

Sent from my Nexus 6P using RealGM mobile app

[GreatWhiteStiff]

He'd have a shot at 30/20/10...probably come up short on the assists and/or points though, seems like he'll also get 4th quarter rest.

[Bologna Smasher]

I'm too jealous of Nuggets fans for having such a player like him. I may have to become a Nugget fan to fix these psychological issues I'm having with this. I'm a big fan of Jamal Murray as well, so it only makes sense.

[r0drig0lac]

I'm too jealous of Nuggets fans for having such a player like him. I may have to become a Nugget fan to fix these psychological issues I'm having with this. I'm a big fan of Jamal Murray as well, so it only makes sense.

lmao

[Tinseltown]

Jokic is fading hard down the stretch tonight after a historic first half. He needs to work on his body a lot this off season and get into much, much better shape if he's going to live up to his potential.

[RRFB]

Jokic is fading hard down the stretch tonight after a historic first half. He needs to work on his body a lot this off season and get into much, much better shape if he's going to live up to his potential.

What in the world are you talking about? Jokic just put up 30/17/5 and you think that's "fading hard down the stretch tonight"?

[Ambrose]

He's (oh-so quietly) having a top 10 - 15 season right now. He's tiers above what Cousins was at 22, and clearly better than last year Davis. Arguably this year's Davis as well.


Physically, I think he's very similar to Cousins. Long arms, big, strong, body that eats up space, and not very fast. Deceptively quick in spots. Only Cousins is a bit longer and a bit heavier. Hell, even his game is very similar, he's just way more skilled. Mainly as a shooter and passer. They play the same kind of defense, highly physical at the rim despite lack of blocks, and cleans up the defensive boards at an elite level. Cousins and Jokic are weak PNR defenders, Jokic has shown he can adapt to different schemes and bet better over the course of the game at it, though.

He's not better than Davis. He's on a better team than Davis, he's not better than Davis. Davis is way too long, skilled, athletic for Jokic. Jokic might be a better passer and that's about it. Davis is probably the best 2 way big in the league when he's at his best.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/DEN/2016.html


http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/DEN/2017.html


There is almost no difference between last year's Nuggets and this year's, except Jokic's being so improved, and starting.

Jokic has drastically moved the needle with his play this season.

I don't even believe the Nuggets have a better team around Jokic. Several players have a clear efficiency boost, and that's almost certainly because of Jokic anchoring the offense out of the low and high post.

I don't mean to take anything away from Jokic here but the Nuggets probably won't win 10 more games than last year. It's not like they are all of a sudden pushing 55 wins. The Pelicans certainly don't have the talent or depth of Denver.

[NuggetsWY]

Jokic is fading hard down the stretch tonight after a historic first half. He needs to work on his body a lot this off season and get into much, much better shape if he's going to live up to his potential.

What in the world are you talking about? Jokic just put up 30/17/5 and you think that's "fading hard down the stretch tonight"?

After a couple of longer stretches of playing, banging against some physical players, he's been dragging a little. It happens, even to young players. It is, after all, a physically demanding game.

[RRFB]

Jokic is fading hard down the stretch tonight after a historic first half. He needs to work on his body a lot this off season and get into much, much better shape if he's going to live up to his potential.

What in the world are you talking about? Jokic just put up 30/17/5 and you think that's "fading hard down the stretch tonight"?

After a couple of longer stretches of playing, banging against some physical players, he's been dragging a little. It happens, even to young players. It is, after all, a physically demanding game.

I guess I misunderstood. I thought he was talking about fatigue over the course of the season, claiming Jokic had been fading down the stretch -- which just isn't true.

Conditioning/fatigue is definitely one of his few weaknesses but I don't consider it as a cause for concern. That'll get better during the offseason.