Seeing Nikola Jokic’s name attached to ridiculous offensive stats, numbers, and leaderboards has become commonplace in the NBA, but this year, he’s even making waves on the defensive end. So far this season, of the 50 duos who have defended the most picks this season, Jokic appears twice in the top 10.
He and Christian Braun are allowing 0.78 points per pick defended in 100 opportunities, and he and Cam Johnson are allowing an equal 0.78 points per play on the 84 picks they have defended so far this year.
Those marks are tied for 4th best in the entire NBA (it’s technically a three-way tie with Josh Hart and Karl-Anthony Towns as well), with Jokic being the only player to appear twice in the top six. Defense, especially in the pick and roll, has always been a relative weakness for the Joker, and many thought it would prevent him from ever winning a title.
But he proved the doubters wrong and has found ways to overcome the fact that he’s not a strong rim-protecting big man or a guy who can switch out onto the perimeter. Instead, he has found a way to get by using his size and instincts to his advantage. He knows where to be, and he plays the angles to advantage, relying on his outstanding hand-eye coordination as well.
Jokic defense has come a long way
The result is a guy who is now up to the task when teams try to target him on the defensive end. Clearly, the fact that he is on this list at all shows that teams are trying to bring him into pick-and-rolls, but the numbers speak for themselves, and Jokci has more than held his own.
The only duos ahead of Jokic on the list are Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson (0.64 points per pick), De’Aaron Fox and Luke Kornet (0.68), and Quentin Grimes and Andre Drummond (0.74), and the only other player to appear twice in the top 10 is Duren, who makes up half of the league’s 10th best duo with Cade Cunningham (0.80).
There are no perfect stats to measure defense, and fans shouldn’t see this and suddenly think Jokic is some elite defender. But the numbers don’t lie, and this shows that when teams attack Jokic, it’s not going well for them. We’ll see if it’s sustainable, or something that can translate against elite offenses in the playoffs, but either way, it’s a great sign.