How good is Jokic? [Poll added]

[jpengland]

Offensively, his ceiling is very high. It's such an unusual set of skills that it's difficult to translate to how much long term impact that will have a d whether defenses will learn to adjust to negate it.

That said, his defense is a huge issue. And limits who can play next to him (Milsap is an ideal fit, however). Especially in a league of stretch 4s. Rim protection and PnR defense is pretty much a necessity for any C.

[Chuck Brickley]

I'd say he's a much better athlete now compared to the future when his knees are gone after carrying all that fat round the court.

[The_Hater]

Hes really really good. Giannis is still the top dog when it comes to the young guys but Jokic isnt far behind him. Id take him over KAT and Embiid without hesitation. If he was American or played for a different team either than Denver, the dude would get talked about a hell of a lot more.

Over KAT and Embiid? That's high praise.

Personally, it's hard for me to take a below average defender like Jokic over a potential DPOY like Embiid at the Center position. Having a elite defender at Center is so important in having an elite defense and a Denver tanked 29th last season on D.

[THE J0KER]

I have high expectations already for the upcoming season with Nikola.

Something like 20p+12r+7a+57%fg which clearly made of him next season NBA Most Valuable Center, or tied with KAT!

And please note that this stats are not based on his eventual projected big improvement next season in many areas, but just on split stats which he already has last season in about 30 matches where he played 30+ minutes! So only thing which he needs for such impressive numbers during whole next season is to become enough physically strong to play on same level 30+ minutes every match.

[Duke4life831]

Hes really really good. Giannis is still the top dog when it comes to the young guys but Jokic isnt far behind him. Id take him over KAT and Embiid without hesitation. If he was American or played for a different team either than Denver, the dude would get talked about a hell of a lot more.

Over KAT and Embiid? That's high praise.

Personally, it's hard for me to take a below average defender like Jokic over a potential DPOY like Embiid at the Center position. Having a elite defender at Center is so important in having an elite defense and a Denver tanked 29th last season on D.

That is definitely not a shot towards either one of those guys, thats just how good I think Jokic is. Living in Denver I started to tune in a lot to watch Jokic and the dude is just special. He maybe the most gifted young offensive player to come into the league since KD. Scoring wise he is basically automatic inside the 3pt line, he shot 63% on 2pt shots and just look at his shooting %s from all the different distances theyre ridiculous. And its not just the raw stats, the eye test as well. The dude can score anyway he wants in the half court, its crazy. Then you add in his flat out ridiculous passing, the dude is a freak offensively. He is also a damn good rebounder as well.

I hear the defense get brought up a lot with him and I dont know I personally dont see the issue. Ya you have to accept the fact hes not an athletic rim protector and this I think also exaggerates his defensive issues. Since he is a slower guy that doesnt really get off the court, his defensive lowlights can look really bad, but that doesnt mean he plays bad defense all game. And it seems like almost all the advanced defensive stats kind of back this up as well. He had the best DRtg and DBPM on Denver, Denver's defense was actually 2 points better with Jokic on compared to him off. His DRPM was +2.29 which was slightly better than Embiid's and Tyson Chandler's.

I am no way trying to say he is a defensive stud. I just think with him being more of a plodder and land locked dude, his defensive lowlights are more noticeable and exaggerated and add that hes not a rim protector, I think people put those 2 things together and just assume hes horrible defensively. While watching plenty of him, Im not seeing it, Im seeing a once in a decade type talent offensively and a dude that is average defensively at worst.

[JJ_PR]

How good do you think this kid will be? Does he have MVP potential? Is he just going to be an all star that can't lead his team past the 2nd round? Just how good is this kid?

Oh the irony... Are you 'Jokic'? The guy is a beast.

(Please tell me you got the joke).

[The_Hater]

Hes really really good. Giannis is still the top dog when it comes to the young guys but Jokic isnt far behind him. Id take him over KAT and Embiid without hesitation. If he was American or played for a different team either than Denver, the dude would get talked about a hell of a lot more.

Over KAT and Embiid? That's high praise.

Personally, it's hard for me to take a below average defender like Jokic over a potential DPOY like Embiid at the Center position. Having a elite defender at Center is so important in having an elite defense and a Denver tanked 29th last season on D.

That is definitely not a shot towards either one of those guys, thats just how good I think Jokic is. Living in Denver I started to tune in a lot to watch Jokic and the dude is just special. He maybe the most gifted young offensive player to come into the league since KD. Scoring wise he is basically automatic inside the 3pt line, he shot 63% on 2pt shots and just look at his shooting %s from all the different distances theyre ridiculous. And its not just the raw stats, the eye test as well. The dude can score anyway he wants in the half court, its crazy. Then you add in his flat out ridiculous passing, the dude is a freak offensively. He is also a damn good rebounder as well.

I hear the defense get brought up a lot with him and I dont know I personally dont see the issue. Ya you have to accept the fact hes not an athletic rim protector and this I think also exaggerates his defensive issues. Since he is a slower guy that doesnt really get off the court, his defensive lowlights can look really bad, but that doesnt mean he plays bad defense all game. And it seems like almost all the advanced defensive stats kind of back this up as well. He had the best DRtg and DBPM on Denver, Denver's defense was actually 2 points better with Jokic on compared to him off. His DRPM was +2.29 which was slightly better than Embiid's and Tyson Chandler's.

I am no way trying to say he is a defensive stud. I just think with him being more of a plodder and land locked dude, his defensive lowlights are more noticeable and exaggerated and add that hes not a rim protector, I think people put those 2 things together and just assume hes horrible defensively. While watching plenty of him, Im not seeing it, Im seeing a once in a decade type talent offensively and a dude that is average defensively at worst.

I didn't take it that way, i think they're all future all stars and I'm guessing you do as well. I just think Jokic's defensive development is the biggest key to his overall future value but it's pretty clear that having a dynamic offensive Center who can pass and make plays like NJ helps create an elite offense in today's league.

[Kabookalu]

I have high expectations already for the upcoming season with Nikola.

Something like 20p+12r+7a+57%fg which clearly made of him next season NBA Most Valuable Center, or tied with KAT!

And please note that this stats are not based on his eventual projected big improvement next season in many areas, but just on split stats which he already has last season in about 30 matches where he played 30+ minutes! So only thing which he needs for such impressive numbers during whole next season is to become enough physically strong to play on same level 30+ minutes every match.

Even then those numbers would literally make him one of the best centers of all time as far as peak goes, definitely not top 10 but somewhere top 20, those numbers are historically great, defense be damned.

[Duke4life831]

Over KAT and Embiid? That's high praise.

Personally, it's hard for me to take a below average defender like Jokic over a potential DPOY like Embiid at the Center position. Having a elite defender at Center is so important in having an elite defense and a Denver tanked 29th last season on D.

That is definitely not a shot towards either one of those guys, thats just how good I think Jokic is. Living in Denver I started to tune in a lot to watch Jokic and the dude is just special. He maybe the most gifted young offensive player to come into the league since KD. Scoring wise he is basically automatic inside the 3pt line, he shot 63% on 2pt shots and just look at his shooting %s from all the different distances theyre ridiculous. And its not just the raw stats, the eye test as well. The dude can score anyway he wants in the half court, its crazy. Then you add in his flat out ridiculous passing, the dude is a freak offensively. He is also a damn good rebounder as well.

I hear the defense get brought up a lot with him and I dont know I personally dont see the issue. Ya you have to accept the fact hes not an athletic rim protector and this I think also exaggerates his defensive issues. Since he is a slower guy that doesnt really get off the court, his defensive lowlights can look really bad, but that doesnt mean he plays bad defense all game. And it seems like almost all the advanced defensive stats kind of back this up as well. He had the best DRtg and DBPM on Denver, Denver's defense was actually 2 points better with Jokic on compared to him off. His DRPM was +2.29 which was slightly better than Embiid's and Tyson Chandler's.

I am no way trying to say he is a defensive stud. I just think with him being more of a plodder and land locked dude, his defensive lowlights are more noticeable and exaggerated and add that hes not a rim protector, I think people put those 2 things together and just assume hes horrible defensively. While watching plenty of him, Im not seeing it, Im seeing a once in a decade type talent offensively and a dude that is average defensively at worst.

I didn't take it that way, i think they're all future all stars and I'm guessing you do as well. I just think Jokic's defensive development is the biggest key to his overall future value but it's pretty clear that having a dynamic offensive Center who can pass and make plays like NJ helps create an elite offense in today's league.

Ya I think theyre all studs as long as they stay healthy. Im personally more hesitant about KAT's defense than Jokic's defense. I also dont think KAT has nearly the same potential offensively as Jokic has.

If Jokic can ever get that 3pt shot to say 37-38%, we are talking about one of the scariest if not the scariest offensive player in the game and this is coming from a GS fan watching KD and Steph every game. Not being a knock down 3pt shooter is basically the only flaw Jokic has right now offensively. The dude is unguardable inside the 3pt arc, hes 6'11 and is one of the most gifted passers in the game.

This is just a crazy to see, his shooting numbers last year:
2pt%: 63%
0-3ft: 67%
3-10ft: 62%
10-16ft: 53%
16ft<3: 55%

I get theyre raw stats but they dont even do the dude justice. Im basically in awe when I watch him play and the dude misses a shot. I was really hoping to see Denver make it to the playoffs so Jokic could play on a bigger stage so more people would see what he could really do. The dude is a blast to watch.

[Village Idiot]

Chris Webber is a guy who was very similar to Jokic. Not quite the passer Jokic is but certainly a very efficient big who could pass the ball. Webbert was a better athlete and defender than Jokic.

[bake51]

Whoever said the center position was dying had to be joking. Jokic, KAT, Embiid, and Porzingus for the next 10-15 years is scary.

[Duke4life831]

Whoever said the center position was dying had to be joking. Jokic, KAT, Embiid, and Porzingus for the next 10-15 years is scary.

Then next year we got Ayton and Bamba who are both going to be top 5 picks and are stud prospects as well. There has been a nice influx of talented young big men into the league.

[The Rebel]

Chris Webber is a guy who was very similar to Jokic. Not quite the passer Jokic is but certainly a very efficient big who could pass the ball. Webbert was a better athlete and defender than Jokic.

Webber was not a better defender than Jokic was last year, and Webber was a good big man passer, Jokic is a top passer in the league regardless of position.

[Bobalob]

Something aint adding up...

If hes THIS good then people would be making more noise for a Kyrie trade. Stars need stars. StaRs crave stars. Ask Towns, ask AD.

Kyrie + Milsap (not a star but solid) + depth + "about to be top 5 player" would be a title contender.

If you give Milsap + Kyrie + depth to Lebron, Kwahi, Harden, Curry, Durant, etc it = contender, so why not Jokic?

Answer: Because he's not on that level. Slow down.

[dhsilv2]

I would need to watch more on him, but I don't see nearly the top side potential here. He lacks athletic ability and I fully expect after last season he's going to get a LOT more defensive game planning. I think he'll struggle to get to that next level and he hasn't shown he can play big minutes yet.

Perennial allstar? Absolutely. MVP candidate? He might have a season but I don't see it.

I still have players like KAT, AD, Embiid, Simmons, etc all having a higher potential upside.

[The_Hater]

Whoever said the center position was dying had to be joking. Jokic, KAT, Embiid, and Porzingus for the next 10-15 years is scary.

Don't forget Gobert.

Well it was dying as recently as 2015 when DeAndre Jordan was voted 1st team all-league Center but all 5 of those players emerged in just the past 24 months.

[LivingLegend]

He is insanely good on the offensive end with elite passing ability as everybody knows out of the high post but I get the feeling since he exerts himself in running the offense 24/7, he has lapses and is mostly a nonfactor on the defensive end.

I believe with another year of experience he can really fine tune his game and have the system built around him. Jokic and Millsap are perfect guys to have for a baby backcourt still growing.

[UcanUwill]

Shorter Sabonis. I love this kid, I am not sure he is MVP candidate in the future, but its not out of the question. He is up there.

[UcanUwill]

Chris Webber is a guy who was very similar to Jokic. Not quite the passer Jokic is but certainly a very efficient big who could pass the ball. Webbert was a better athlete and defender than Jokic.

I think he is very similar to Arvydas, dont you think? Not as good as prime Arvydas, but its damn close.

[Bobalob]

Chris Webber is a guy who was very similar to Jokic. Not quite the passer Jokic is but certainly a very efficient big who could pass the ball. Webbert was a better athlete and defender than Jokic.

I think he is very similar to Arvydas, dont you think? Not as good as prime Arvydas, but its damn close.

Im pretty sure you or most of us have never seen the REAL prime Arvydas. He was a shell of himself by the time he got to the NBA, he was that good before