Denver Nuggets superstar center Nikola Jokic is gunning for a second championship and a fourth league MVP honor this year.
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This year, the Nuggets essentially have subbed in forward Cam Johnson, guards Tim Hardaway Jr. and Bruce Brown, and center Jonas Valanciunas for forward Michael Porter Jr. and point guard Russell Westbrook, in terms of usable rotation pieces.
Thanks to that revamped depth, Denver is expected to compete with the Oklahoma City Thunder (and, perhaps, the Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors, all of whom have levitated above the rest of the West) for supremacy in the Western Conference.
Jokic remains a perpetual MVP candidate
Across his first three games this season for the 2-1 Nuggets, the 30-year-old Jokic has been averaging 20.0 points on 53.7 percent shooting from the field and 93.3 percent shooting from the foul line, 15.3 rebounds, 11.7 assists, 2.0 steals and 0.7 blocks a night.
While chatting with longtime league insider Brandon "Scoop B" Robinson before the start of the season last week, longtime NBA journeyman center-turned-Houston Rockets analyst Ryan Hollins suggested that ascendant young All-Star Houston center/power forward Alperen Sengun could be the heir apparent to Jokic — and one other elite former All-NBA center.
Sengun, 23, has been averaging 25.7 points on .453/.583/.846 shooting splits, 8.0 boards, 6.7 dishes and 2.0 steals for the 1-2 Rockets, who thanks to their own revamped roster could emerge among the conference's elites once the dust settles (and they figure out a Fred VanVleet replacement).
"I think he’s a mix between Jokic and Marc Gasol," Hollins said of Sengun. "Obviously, you can see the, you know, the Jokic with the passing, but height wise, he’s probably closer to Marc. And I think a lot of people forget how good, really good Marc Gasol was, and I had to go against him in the playoffs and whatnot, so I know. But he’s got wiggle that’s unique for a European big man."
Gasol was a three-time All-Star, two-time All-NBA Teamer, and the 2013 Defensive Player of the Year while with the Memphis Grizzlies. He was traded to the Toronto Raptors at the 2019 deadline, ultimately winning his lone NBA title as a starter there that summer.
Like Sengun and Jokic, Gasol was a better-than-usual passer for his size. He also developed an outside shot (something Sengun is working on, but Jokic already has).
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"But for me, and I’ll give you another name that you want in [former Rockets big man] Luis Scola," Hollis said. "Scola would get you in that short roll, throw the little swoop shots, you know, extremely efficient with what he does. You know, wouldn’t jump off the ground too far if he didn’t need to. So I think a little bit of that and a guy who would put the ball on the deck, you know?"
The ground-bound natures of Sengun and his Houston predecessor Scola, and their abilities to operate out of the short pick-and-roll and score efficiently in the paint, seem to be the big connectors for their games.
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