RealGM

At their primes, so 2021-2023 Jokic or 2016-2018 Curry I guess, just as players

Just curious because I don’t remember if someone’s asked this before

Jokic

Jokic is looking like arguably the best scorer in the league right now. This is particularly impressive when you consider that people believe his playmaking and scoring are the best aspects of his game. I think it really shows you how versatile he is and how he can beat you in a multitude of ways.

For the PS, I might favor Jokic's offense in terms of projected resiliency. Why you may ask? Well for one, I think it is generally pretty hard to take away playmaking. It probably isn't as variable as scoring, as a scorer typically will maintain their scoring gravity no matter what, and therefore assuming their decision-making doesn't change, they can still make the same passes and/create the same opportunities they did before.

But also, Jokic's scoring game is so versatile because he is such a potent post presence as a 1 on 1 scorer. He is extremely hard to double because his passing is just that outlandish. Jokic is an elite offensive rebounding threat that you constantly must box-out or else he will kill you on the boards. Because of him naturally playing inside the paint more, he is much more liable to draw fouls, which not only keeps his efficiency up but can get the opposing front court in trouble. Finally, he is leading the league in midrange FG%. That consistency as a scorer from that range probably gives him a higher floor than Curry, who while will go nuclear from 3 is naturally more prone to cold stretches due to the variability of the 3. Jokic is also terrific finishing at the rim, and the fact he can create and or be a finisher as a roller on these plays is a value add.

Jokic is an underrated 3-level scorer. On the year he’s shooting 70% at the rim, 62% from midrange, and 34% from 3. Jokic ranks 13th in total short midrange shots taken, and 78th in total long midrange shots taken.

Curry's gravity is a real thing, but I think Jokic has outlier gravity relative to many all-time offensive players, due to him being an all-time floor-spacer for a big. His ability to draw a rim-protector out the paint is highly valuable. His strongest argument over someone like Magic as a passer (not saying he is definitely better but this would be one of the srguments) all-time might be due positional hedge/advantage. If your C is a terrific passer/shooter you basically have every layup at the rim without the primary rim protector (because they are busy guarding Jokic in this case). Aaron Gordon has GOAT-like finishing numbers at face-value because he gets so many easier attempts at the rim.

Continuing on, I think I trust Jokic more as a floor-raiser because of his iso-scoring and less need for him to have good passers on his team. I greatly value floor-raising so I do lean Jokic. I also think Jokic might have an argument as a better offensive ceiling-raiser because his quick decision-making with his passing, offensive rebounding, and off-ball shooting are real threats.