Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, and Jrue Holiday in Denver? What could have been…

Nikola Jokic has never exactly seemed like an open book, generally prioritizing privacy. Even as his star has grown in America, the Joker has never seemed particularly interested in being a celebrity. He prefers to keep to himself and enjoy time with his family and friends - in his home country of Serbia as much as possible.

But naturally, as he has become the greatest basketball player alive, he has endeared himself to Americans, basketball fans, and especially Nuggets fans. People want more access to Jokic; they want to meet and get to know the person, not just the basketball player.

So it came as a pleasant surprise when it was announced that Mike Singer - formerly of the USA Today and Denver Post - was writing a book profiling Jokic. Singer has been an excellent reporter and journalist for years and has actually now taken a job in the Nuggets front office.

But Singer worked tirelessly for over a year, researching and interviewing everyone he possibly could to be able to tell the story of Jokic. The book, titled ‘Why So Serious?: The Untold Story of NBA Champion Nikola Jokic’ is filled with detailed reporting, news, and intimate stories from friends and loved ones.

It’s a pretty incredible look inside Jokic, the human being. And it tells an incredible tale of how he came into our lives as a basketball genius. The book is completely worth poring over every page for any Jokic fan - or basketball fan, really - but the author, Singer, appeared on a recent episode of the Hoops Collective with Brian Windhorst, and talked about a few bits of interesting facts from the book about the Nuggets.

Nuggets almost traded for Doncic and Holiday

First, Singer recounted how the Nuggets were interested in a blockbuster deal on NBA draft night 2018 to move up and acquire Luka Doncic. According to Singer, their offer revolved around Gary Harris and two first-round draft picks. They were talking to Vlade Divac and the Kings and apparently got close, but ultimately the teams didn’t pull the trigger.

Then Singer talked about another trade back in 2020 when Denver came very close to acquiring Jrue Holiday from New Orleans via trade. Singer said that the Nuggets were “very close” and that if there were another 90 minutes until the deadline, the deal would have gotten done.

It’s crazy to think what a team with Doncic, Holiday, and Jokic could look like, but that’s just an alternate reality at this point. As great as it sounds, who knows if both deals would have been able to come to fruition. There are just too many variables along the way to get bogged down fantasizing about what could have been.

Among other things, those deals would have meant Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon never would have wound up in Denver. And who knows what else would have changed along the way. What we do know is that in the actual real world, the Nuggets won a championship and should be able to contend for more titles in the future.