RealGM

Obviously, Barkley peaked higher early in their careers. I shift the timeframe a season forward so that Barkley 93' and Jokic 23' align. Also, they're not exactly the same position, so Jokic don't really fit alongside Malone and so on. But let's do this:

Philly 86' with Jokic 16'; Denver 16' with Barkley 86'
Philly 87' with Jokic 17'; Denver 17' with Barkley 87'
Philly 88' with Jokic 18'; Denver 18' with Barkley 88'
Philly 89' with Jokic 19'; Denver 19' with Barkley 89'
Philly 90' with Jokic 20'; Denver 20' with Barkley 90'
Philly 91' with Jokic 21' (MVP); Denver 21' with Barkley 91'
Philly 92' with Jokic 22' (MVP); Denver 22' with Barkley 92'
Suns 93' with Jokic 23' (FMVP); Denver 23' with Barkley 93' (MVP)

Most interesting is what happens in 90'-93'.

For example, Philly 90' starts with Dawkins, Hawkins, Ron Anderson, Mahorn and Jokic - with Gminski off the bench. Do they do better or worse than Semi-ECF? Denver 20' starts with Murray, Harris, Grant, Barkley, Millsap (with MPJ off the bench) - do they beat the Lakers and go to the finals?

Suns 93' start with KJ, Majerle, Dumas, Mark West, Jokic - with Ainge as sixth man and Chambers/Oliver Miller as well off the bench. Do they beat the Bulls? Denver 23' start with Murray, KCP, MPJ, Barkley, Gordon with Bruce Brown off the bench. Do they win the title?

*bump*

I think the 1993 Suns with Jokic would beat the Bulls. They were pretty close as it was. The Suns had been a really good team even before they got Barkley, and it took a lot from MJ to beat them. That was probably the closest finals the Bulls had. The Suns were genuinely great (and it wasn’t a peak year for the Bulls). I think there’s enough of a difference between Jokic and Barkley that they could win.

Replacing Barkley or inserting Barkley anywhere is a very large mental challenge. He has no real comparables as a short-ish banger that was insanely effective on the glass, off the dribble, and in the post.

Did you know he lead the league in 2p fg% five years in a row? At a listed height of 6’6”? That’s just insane. Equally entertaining was that he shot under 27% from three for his career in over 2000 attempts.

Jokic is of course equally unique. My brain can’t handle this. Sorry for the lack of contribution.