Nikola Jokic projections: When you look around the NBA today, there are tons of great scorers, great shooters, and guys who can handle the rock and jump out of the gym. As great as those players are, there are very few, if any, in NBA history like Nikola Jokic. He’s a player who plays with two feet on the ground, has no vertical game, and can dominate strictly through passing and playmaking.
In the last week and a half, Jokic has become a pass-first center, taking shots occasionally but primarily acting as a 7-foot John Stockton. It’s kind of ironic that Nikola Jokic, the guy who was deemed a “stat-padder,” is now taking fewer shots than ever and passing the ball with some all-time great precision
nikola jokic joel embiid
Of course, Jokic last year beat the stat-padding allegations, but this year, he has completely dispelled them. At this point, he’s one of the few players who’s almost anti-stat-padding. Unlike some superstars who choose games here and there to sit out or play, Jokic consistently dominates, whether against top-tier teams or bottom-feeders.
Looking at pass-first Jokic in the last six games, where he’s gone anti-stat-padding, he’s averaging 20.8 points, 9.5 assists, and 9.2 rebounds on 82-80-87 splits. Those numbers are like Magic Johnson combined with Steph Curry, but in a 7-foot tall frame that takes as many shots as John Stockton. This last week and a half has been one of the most rare sights in NBA history.
Examining Denver as a team during those six games, Jokic’s impact has been immense. The Nuggets rank fifth in offensive rating, first in assist ratio, and fourth in true shooting percentage. It’s almost comical that a guy who’s only shooting 11 times per game can have such a significant impact on the basketball court. Historically speaking, this impact is very Magic Johnson or Larry Bird-esque, not being a shoot-first player but built like a fridge.- nikola jokic joel embiid
kendrick perkins nikola jokic
kendrick perkins nikola jokic
Again, looking back at stat-padding versus anti-stat-padding, Perkins last year was just super bold attacking Jokic for stat-padding. But this year, he is almost deathly quiet when talking about Embiid ducking certain teams and being selective with whom you play – the Bulls one night, the Hornets, the Pistons. That’s almost a worse form of stat padding because you’re picking teams to beat up on and put up gaudy numbers. But, for some other reason, Big Perk is definitely silent now. joel embiid nikola jokic
Looking back at the anti-stat-patter, the most impressive game in the stretch came versus the Pistons, of course, a terrible NBA team. But Jokic, in the first quarter, didn’t take a single shot, and the entire second half had zero field goal attempts. Instead, he had 16 dimes, seven boards, and five blocks. And despite shooting only three times, he trolled the entire team with the second-best plus-minus out of the entire game.
Of course, scoring four points in a game for a superstar should be awful and reprehensible, but when Jokic does it, I just find it weird because his four points don’t really even matter, yet he still dominates. Guys like Curry, Tatum, Luca – any superstar you can name can’t dominate only scoring four points. And I think this game versus Detroit kind of shows Jokic’s attitude about stats and accolades, as where he comes from, putting up big numbers isn’t really emphasized, and the main thing is winning games.
Nikola Jokic projections
if more Superstars had yok’s attitude the game in 2024 would be in a much better place look I’m guilty of this you’re guilty of this we’re all guilty of this because for NBA fans stats are so Grand in basketball it’s second nature but to have someone like join just kind of flip it all in its head take three shots here four shots there and still dominate
It almost makes me question everything about basketball and stats in general and kind of building off the stat conversation when it comes to winning MVP historically stats matter immensely and at this point in 2024 it’s one of the more competitive races we’ve seen in recent history as right now there are four to five guys even six guys who have a legit case to win the award
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but I think by mid-February or late March that’ll start dwindling to three guys two guys and eventually one and if I had to bet on it I think you even trying to win it he’s going to walk away with his third MVP
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