It’s every NBA fans favorite debate question: is this player better than this other player? It’s natural for humans to want to compare basically everything on Earth, and NBA players are no different. So in this new weekly series, I’m going to try to compare the Denver Nuggets best players of all time to players they are often compared to or have had similar levels of success. Of course, most of this is objectionable and hard to prove, which is why I’m going to do my best to back up every statement with evidence and hard facts. Without any more jabbering, let’s get into it.
(Note: All statistics are via Basketball-Reference unless otherwise noted.)
Nuggets C Nikola Jokic v. Timberwolves C Karl-Anthony Towns
This is one argument I see often. These are two of the best centers in the league, they were drafted in successive drafts(albeit at different sides of the draft), and they are both very offensively oriented players.
When you watch the tape on these guys, you’ll see they both a similar impact on their teams. They seem to be able to put the team on their backs and carry them to a win, and they both have several monstrous performances under their belts. When you compare their stats, they are fairly similar players. Take a look for yourself:
Nikola Jokic 2017-18 Stats per 36 minutes: 20.4 ppg, 11.8 rpg, 6.7 apg, 1.3 spg, 0.9 bpg, 49.9% field goal percentage, 39.6% three-point percentage, 24.4 PER, 10.7 Win Shares
Karl-Anthony Towns 2017-18 Stats per 36 minutes: 21.5 ppg, 12.5 rpg, 2.5 apg, 0.8 spg, 1.4 bpg, 54.5% field goal percentage, 42.1% three-point percentage, 24.9 PER, 14.0 Win Shares