Building a perfect Nuggets cast with 1 All-Star, 1 HOFer, and 2 role players

The Denver Nuggets won the 2023 NBA Championship. Led by Nikola Jokic, a two-time MVP and one of the best players in the world, the Nuggets were able to break through and win their first title in franchise history.

For years, Denver watched various versions of their teams make runs to the playoffs but fall short time and time again. From Carmelo Anthony to Alex English to Dan Issel, no one was able to get the job done before Jokic.

The Serbian big man is going to go down as one of the greatest players to ever play the sport of basketball, and he’s still only 28 years old. His unique playstyle is unlike anything the game has ever seen.

Jokic’s mix of post dominance, elite playmaking, and clutch factor allow him to completely dominate opponents whenever he feels like it. And this year’s Nuggets team complemented him perfectly.

Jamal Murray acted as an amazing on-ball creator who lit it up from the perimeter, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was the perfect 3-and-D wing, Aaron Gordon was an elite defender and top-tier lob threat, Michael Porter Jr. provided amazing shooting and rebounding, and Bruce Brown did a little bit of everything.

Building a perfect Nuggets cast for Nikola Jokic with 1 All-Star, 1 HOFer, and 2 role players

But what would the perfect lineup be around Jokic?

Enjoy Basketball, a brand and newsletter run by YouTuber KOT4Q, has been tweeting out hypothetical questions this summer about what perfect lineups around NBA stars would look like. So why not take on the challenge for Jokic?

In the context of what it would take to win a championship, the 2023 squad is pretty close to perfect. But what if the goal was to go 82-0? And what if the Nuggets could pick any players they wanted?

Let’s say the Nuggets could pair Jokic with one Hall-of-Famer, one current All-Star*, and two current role players*. What would their team look like, and how well could they do?

*All-Star is a very relative term. Technically speaking, guys like Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James are current All-Stars, but they would be Hall-of-Famers if they retired today, so we’ll avoid those players.

**Role players is also a relative term, so for this, we’ll look at current players who have never been All-Stars nor have been close to All-Star level (Ex: Just because Jalen Brunson and Desmond Bane haven’t been All-Stars doesn’t mean they are role players.)

***This is a fun activity. Everyone will have different answers. Just enjoy.