The Denver Nuggets take a rather unique approach to designing their offense. While many teams play through guards and wings, Denver's offense flows through center Nikola Jokic, who makes a living at the elbows and orchestrates accordingly.
By acquiring Jonas Valanciunas, the Nuggets finally have a player who can help keep the offense running in its ideal manner when Jokic is off the court.
The Nuggets ranked No. 1 in the NBA in elbow touches per game during the 2024-25 season—by a gigantic margin. Denver checked in at 19.3, with the Toronto Raptors ranking No. 2 at 15.1 and the LA Clippers following at No. 3 with 11.9.
With 7.4 more elbow touches per game than the No. 3 team in the Association, it's safe to say the Nuggets are unique in their offensive structure and strategy.
Jokic accounts for more than half of those possessions at a league-leading 10.1 elbow touches per game. One of the primary issues that Denver encounters when he's off the court is that it essentially changes everything about the way it plays, with Aaron Gordon ranking No. 2 on the team at just 2.5.
Thankfully, Valanciunas is one of the best and most productive players south of the Jokic line in terms of elbow touches and all of the possibilities they provide.
Jonas Valanciunas shares specialty with Nikola Jokic: Elbow touches
Valanciunas finished the 2024-25 season at 3.5 elbow touches per game. That number may not inspire much faith, but it's far more intriguing when translated to 6.6 per 36 minutes—a number he's floated around in recent seasons.
That's inevitably gone hand-in-hand with Valanciunas posting the best assist numbers of his career over the past four years.
Between his first nine seasons, Valanciunas averaged just 1.4 assists per 36 minutes. That number has climbed to 3.1 over his past four NBA campaigns, however, including career-best figures of 3.2 in 2023-24 and 3.9 in 2024-25.
A more than capable passer who can operate from the elbow and find shooters and slashers alike, Valanciunas is a dream of a backup in regard to Denver being able to sustain a specific style of play.
Valanciunas certainly isn't a one-trick pony, as he ranks among the most productive big men in the NBA. In 2024-25, he averaged 10.4 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.3 offensive rebounds, and 2.0 assists in just 18.8 minutes per game, which translates to 19.9 points, 14.8 rebounds, 4.5 offensive rebounds, and 3.9 assists per 36 minutes.
An excellent post scorer who can face up and knock down midrange jump shots, Valanciunas offers far more than elbow touches to a Nuggets second unit in need of offense.
What he enables the Nuggets to embrace, however, is a sense of continuity. No one can do exactly what Jokic does, and David Adelman would be doing Valanciunas a disservice if he asks him to try. What Valanciunas can do, however, is create a sense of structural consistency in the general approach Denver takes with and without Jokic on the court.
No team runs the number of plays from the elbow that the Nuggets have long preferred to, and with Jokic and Valanciunas, they now have a duo that can create a sustainable path to success.