2021 NBA MVP ladder #2: Nikola Jokic
If the Nuggets had a better record, it would be hard to mount a case against Nikola Jokic. He has been unfortunately saddled with a poor bench and subpar play from his co-stars, as both Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. continue to perform well below expectations. Jokic has been too often a one-man show in Denver, but he’s carrying that load with extreme proficiency.
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Jokic is averaging 26.9 points, 10.9 rebounds, and 8.6 assists on 56.0 percent shooting. He’s hitting 41.9 percent of his 3s, and playing much better defense than his detractors would suggest. If it weren’t for Jokic, the Nuggets would fall miles short of the 17-15 record they currently possess.
In fact, Jokic’s ability to traverse the choppy waters of Western Conference basketball with such a half-baked roster is deserving of major credit. The Nuggets don’t look like the conference finals team we saw last season, but Denver is not out of the picture entirely. That’s almost solely due to Jokic.
Both an elite scorer and one of the most gifted playmakers in the league, Jokic is a master manipulator. He can unravel a defense without so much as lifting a toe. He doesn’t move quickly, but he does move deliberately. He can get to his shot just about anywhere, and his penchant for eye-popping passes is matched only by the efficiency of those passes. He’s not passing for flash; he’s oozing flash while making pinpoint passes that often, in some way or another, lead to open shots.
This is, as I stated last time, a two-horse race between Jokic and the big man who you have likely guessed is on the next slide. Every name mentioned on this list has a case, and several names not on the list also have a fighting chance. For the time being, however, it’s difficult to think of awarding the MVP to someone other than Jokic or Embiid.