"Can he play?"
"Can he run for 30 minutes?"
"It's only 2 years, uh-huh, at most 3 years, and the NBA's doors are closed to him."
This is the 2014 draft, when Nikola Jokic's name appeared on the big screen, the true reflection of many fans, no one was optimistic about this big man from the European sub-league, bloated, soft looking, including the Nuggets, they did not expect Jokic to achieve much in the future, the reason why they are willing to bring him to the NBA is purely to see the face of agent Raznatovic.
Raznatović is the most powerful sports agent in Serbia, there are professional teams, agencies and other industries, and the NBA also has close ties, the Frenchman Joffrey Lovelje's draft, is Lednatović's single-handed, this time, he came to the NBA with Jokic's resume, but several door-to-door sales, all ended in failure, those team directors did not give Raznatovic a chance to speak, they directly asked: "You look at him, Are you sure he can last 20 minutes in the NBA? ”
Only the Nuggets' president of operations, Connery, is willing to listen to Raznatovic's introduction to Jokic, because the team that selected Lovellje with the No. 55 in 13 years is the Denver Nuggets.
Although Lovegne only played 5 seasons in the NBA, but during the Nuggets performance is not bad, and the Nuggets later sent him away, got 2 second-round picks from the Thunder, overall, this draft is still relatively successful, so they trust Raznatovic, so they seriously consider Jokic, although there are many internal opposition voices, but weighed repeatedly, they think Nurkic needs a substitute, let Jokic play such a role, a game of about 15 minutes, It shouldn't be too much of a problem.
The story behind everyone is clear, Jokic landed in the NBA as the second round of the No. 41 show, and completed the signing the following year.
The NBA went in, but the doubts about Jokic were never eliminated, especially after he squeezed out Nurkic, and Jokic and the behind-the-scenes manipulator Connery were sent to the forefront by Denver fans.
In February 2017, Connery made a suicide trade that fans jokingly called "farewell to the playoffs", he sent Nurkic to the Blazers in exchange for Plumlee, the arrival of Plumlee, did not bring any help to the Nuggets, and Nurkic, He averaged 15.2 points, 10.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.9 blocks per game to help the Blazers win 14 of their last 20 games and keep the Nuggets out of the playoffs by a one-win margin.
Although that year, Jokic's performance was not bad, averaging 16.7 points, 9.8 rebounds, 4.9 assists per game, a number of high-level statistics ranked in the league's top ten, such as PER efficiency value, can reach 26.3, ranked 8th in the league, higher than Paul, Alphabet Brother, Curry, and ORPM true offensive plus-minus value of +5.21, also ranked 8th in the league, comparable to Kevin Durant, but the arena is the king of defeat, no win, no matter how dazzling the data, In the eyes of fans, they are just numbers and worthless.
In the 17-18 season, Jokic, who continued to improve, although in terms of personal data (except for the block), comprehensively crushed Nurkic, but still failed to lead the Nuggets into the playoffs, while the Blazers, who got Nurkic, jumped from the former playoff marginal team to the top three in the West.
For two summers, Connery received dozens of abusive emails and text messages every morning, and for a moment he began to wonder if he had made a wrong decision, but the team manager Mike Malone was so adamant that he was on Connery's side, and Malone told Connery that Jokic must be the best big man in the league and that we needed him.
There is no other choice, Connery can only put his future fate on Jokic's body, a 5-year 148 million US dollars maximum salary, just handed to the latter, and Jokic also lived up to expectations, just a few months after the renewal, he opened his own internal era...
From the All-Star bench to the starter, from being selected for the first team to being elected MVP, Jokic became the most versatile center in NBA history, while also leading the Nuggets step by step into the ranks of the top teams, has reached the Western Conference Finals for 2 consecutive years, because Jokic, Connery also got the Nuggets' contract extension, only 7 years in office, he will rebuild a team, re-bring to the Stage of the Western Conference Finals, and for this team, select the historical core.
This season, Jokic is still a strong contender for MVP, averaging 26.2 points per game, ranking 8th in the league, grabbing 13.8 rebounds, ranking second in the league, and also delivering 7.9 assists, ranking 7th in the league, and is the only star in the league who has all three statistics in the top ten, in addition, Jokic's high-level stats are also quite terrifying, among the players with a usage rate of more than 30%, he is the only player who has a true shooting rate of more than 65%, and the only player with an assist rate of more than 35%.
If it were not for Jokic's strong play, the nuggets who lacked major generals would have fallen outside the top eight in the West, whether they could win the final championship or not, Jokic is worthy of respect, and it is quite rare to be able to go all the way to today in such a bad situation.