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Denver Nuggets: Analyzing Nikola Jokic’s impact

By Mathew Huff

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - APRIL 11: Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) takes the ball up the court in the regular-season finale vs the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Target Center in downtown Minneapolis. April 11, 2018 Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Joe Amon/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - APRIL 11: Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) takes the ball up the court in the regular-season finale vs the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Target Center in downtown Minneapolis. April 11, 2018 Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Joe Amon/The Denver Post via Getty Images) /
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We know the Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic is great, but just how great is he?

The Denver Nuggets got an absolute steal in Nikola Jokic. He is a savvy play maker who can turn the tide of the game in a blink of an eye with his offensive impact.

We all know about his triple doubles and his crazy triple double record where he recorded the fastest one in all of NBA history. However, the advanced analytics paint a whole new perspective on the Joker’s greatness.

Per basketball reference, Jokic averaged an offensive win share of 7.8 to go along with a nice assist percentage of 29.6% this past season. This assist rate is extremely high, especially for someone who plays the center spot.

He also possessed a true shooting percentage of 60.3% to couple with a usage percentage of 24.2%. This goes to show just how much the Denver Nuggets utilize the Serbian big man in their offensive scheme.

However, Jokic is also a deceptively solid rebounder. This past year, Jokic averaged an offensive rebound percentage of nine percent and defensive rebounding percentage of 27.9%. This also resulted in Jokic having a rebound average of 10.7 per game, which was the highest of his three year career so far.

In terms of his defensive production, he is still working on this front. However, he made some good strides this past season. Jokic upped his defensive win shares to 2.9 and also had a block percentage of 2.1% to go along with steal percentage of 1.8%.

All in all, Jokic had a great year last season. The Joker finished with a player efficiency of 24.4 and had a value above replacement player rating of 5.6.

Next: Top 10 Nuggets of all time

We all know how good Nikola Jokic is, but people do not realize how crazy his advanced analytics were from this past NBA season. Next year, we will see even more improvement.

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