"He used to be a fat point guard,": Malone says Nikola Jokic is the best passing center he's ever coached

DENVER — It’s hard to put Nikola Jokic‘s passing and playmaking ability in perspective.

In a league where centers have drifted towards defined roles as shot blockers, rim protectors, and dunkers, the Nuggets in Jokic have a five-man that’s going against the grain.

After five more assists in just 20 minutes due to foul trouble Saturday night in Denver’s 127-114 win over the New York Knicks, it’s clear that what Jokic is doing from the center position is rare in today’s NBA.

“I’ve never coached one,” Michael Malone said in response to if he’s ever been around a center who’s as gifted a passer and playmaker as Jokic. “DeMarcus Cousins was a very good ball handler and passer in Sacramento, been around some other talented bigs, but never a guy who has the playmaking ability that he has. In the open floor, the rebound the push. The no-look in the halfcourt, facing the basket, back-to-the-basket.”

The Nuggets have taken off since swapping Jusuf Nurkic for Jokic in the starting lineup after their Dec. 12 loss in Dallas which also coincided with Gary Harris returning from injury and Wilson Chandler starting as well. Denver wanted to add a little offensive firepower to their starting group after struggling for much of the season to score effectively at the beginning of games.

However, it’s Jokic, the 21-year-old center who is really making the Nuggets’ engine fire on all cylinders.

“To me, he reminds you a little bit of Vlade Divac,” Malone said. “A guy that was just an unbelievable passer no matter where you put him on the floor. So I haven’t personally coached a guy like that and that’s no disrespect to all the guys I’ve been around.”

Jokic’s over-the-shoulder alley-oop to a cutting Kenneth Faried in Saturday night’s win nicely summed up why the Nuggets’ offense is humming with Jokic on the floor.

“He has such a great feel for the game,” Gary Harris said of Jokic. “When he has the ball everyone wants to cut because they know he’ll make the pass. That just gets the movement going on the offensive end.”

It’s a minuscule sample size, but over their last two games, since the lineup change, the Nuggets have the league’s second-most efficient offense, scoring 122.7 points per 100 possessions. Denver is also a +21 plus-minus in their last two first quarters after struggling offensively to start games at the beginning of the year.

Players are cutting because they know Jokic will find them leading to an offense that currently has more movement and energy than at any point over the last three years, even before Malone arrived in Denver.

“He used to be a fat point guard,” Malone said of Jokic. “He was a point guard growing up, he had the ball in his hands. That’s why I think his ball handling, his passing are where they’re at because he has that foundation growing up.”

“He makes everybody around him better,” Malone continued. “Which I think is the best definition of a great player, making people around you better.”

Footnotes

Jameer Nelson, who suffered a jaw contusion in the fourth quarter Saturday versus New York and did not return to the game, practiced Sunday and is good to go for Monday’s matchup at home against Dallas.

Jamal Murray is on the injury report but listed as probable for Sunday’s game with right foot soreness.