Where would Nikola Jokic rank in the 90’s?

[homecourtloss]

Hakeem was far from "near automatic." Relative to the other ATG centers, he's one of the less efficient scorers, certainly not in the Wilt/Kareem/Shaq/Jokic area though his playoff numbers improve relative to other greats. In part this may be because his go to move was not a particularly efficient or easy shot unless the bigs mentioned above. He was a volume scorer with one of the early offenses designed at times to give him space to operate so Jokic would have his hands full but probably less difficult defensively for Jokic than someone like Embiid or a healthy Davis.

Hakeem was actually more efficient isolation scorer than Shaq, he just couldn't cretae easy shots the same way via putbacks, P&R finishes, lobs and inside catches.

Additionally both he and Kareem had notoriously low free-throw rates. Both players scored so gracefully and effortlessly (especially the older versions) at times that they never got the benefit of the calls.

I will say though that someone like Jokic put back in the 90s or 80s would feel like he doesn’t have to play as much defense because he has so much less court to cover, and so much less movement and could actually use his bulk more effectively in post defense.

[frica]

Hakeem was far from "near automatic." Relative to the other ATG centers, he's one of the less efficient scorers, certainly not in the Wilt/Kareem/Shaq/Jokic area though his playoff numbers improve relative to other greats. In part this may be because his go to move was not a particularly efficient or easy shot unless the bigs mentioned above. He was a volume scorer with one of the early offenses designed at times to give him space to operate so Jokic would have his hands full but probably less difficult defensively for Jokic than someone like Embiid or a healthy Davis.

Hakeem was actually more efficient isolation scorer than Shaq, he just couldn't cretae easy shots the same way via putbacks, P&R finishes, lobs and inside catches.

Additionally both he and Kareem had notoriously low free-throw rates. Both players scored so gracefully and effortlessly at times that they never got the benefit of the calls.

I will say though that someone like Jokic put back in the 90s or 80s would feel like he doesn’t have to play as much defense because he has so much less court to cover, and so much less movement and could actually use his bulk more effectively in post defense.

In the case of early Kareem I think he also simply lacked strength to bully himself to the basket.
Could say that KG had the same problem. Relying on the fact has he's still moderately efficient far from the basket but obviously doesn't net much FTs.

[70sFan]

Hakeem was actually more efficient isolation scorer than Shaq, he just couldn't cretae easy shots the same way via putbacks, P&R finishes, lobs and inside catches.

Additionally both he and Kareem had notoriously low free-throw rates. Both players scored so gracefully and effortlessly at times that they never got the benefit of the calls.

I will say though that someone like Jokic put back in the 90s or 80s would feel like he doesn’t have to play as much defense because he has so much less court to cover, and so much less movement and could actually use his bulk more effectively in post defense.

In the case of early Kareem I think he also simply lacked strength to bully himself to the basket.
Could say that KG had the same problem. Relying on the fact has he's still moderately efficient far from the basket but obviously doesn't net much FTs.

Young Kareem had fairly solid FT rate though. Nothing spectacular, but he actually regressed as he got bigger and stronger.

[penbeast0]

Kareem's early skyhook was more mobile and usually closer in, more low post. As he got older, it became more of a stationary shot from mid to high post. You don't get foul calls on hook shots very often because it's like a fadeaway in that you don't move forward into the defender and it's difficult to block effectively.

[tsherkin]

In the case of early Kareem I think he also simply lacked strength to bully himself to the basket.

Early Kareem had his best FTrs, though. Rookie KAJ had the best FTr of his career and 3 of his top 5 came from 70-72.