Nikola Jokic’s most unguardable shot could ease Nuggets’ spacing concerns

Three-time MVP Nikola Jokic does a few things incredibly well for the Denver Nuggets. He's a great passer who just picked up his first assist title. And he's a great rebounder, also securing his first rebounding title. But perhaps the most dominant aspect of his game is his shooting touch, namely the floater. And it could be the most unguardable shot in the NBA.

The floater isn't a shot many players attempt. It requires a high arc and a soft touch, making it a difficult shot to perfect. But Jokic has done just that, connecting on a league-high 62.7% of his floaters in 2025-26. Of course, getting the floater to fall doesn't come without some practice.

In an interview with Bruno Feliks of Basketball Network, Nuggets assistant coach Ognjen Stojakovic detailed the work that Jokic puts in behind the scenes to make the shot work so well.

"I saw that he has a touch. And then my mind was, 'Okay, if you have that touch, why wouldn't we build up that touch?' He still does the same routine with floaters. So every day we're shooting floaters, every day we're shooting runners, every day we're shooting all those shots," Stojakovic told Feliks.

The Nuggets need to maximize the floater

The Nuggets were the best three-point shooting team in the NBA last season, connecting on 39.6% of their shots from deep. But they lost their sixth man, Tim Hardaway Jr., to free agency. Hardaway finished 10th in the league with 240 made threes while shooting 40.7%.

His replacement off the bench will be the veteran six-time All-Star DeMar DeRozan, who isn't a great three-point shooter. Spacing could be more of a concern. However, he's an excellent playmaker in the mid-range, and he just could help maximize the floater from Jokic.

DeRozan and Jokic both in the mid-range sounds like an issue. But it really shouldn't be. DeRozan can draw in the defenders and dump the pass off to Jokic to get his floater off, especially out of a pick-and-roll. Combined with DeRozan's mid-range finishing ability, the Nuggets may have the most elite mid-range combo in the entire league.

Jokic also needs to shoot the floater more in 2026-27 to get him away from shooting his three-point shot if he can't regain the form that we're all accustomed to. Jokic is normally a fantastic shooter from downtown, and he still finished with a 38.0% average last year. But that number was dragged down steadily over the course of the second half of the season when Jokic's shooting wrist started to bother him. And it was even worse during the playoffs, where Jokic shot just 19.4% from deep.

The floater is Jokic's most dominant weapon. It needs to be maximized this year.

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