Denver Nuggets: Nikola Jokic’s MVP case

While he’s not as flashy as some of the other NBA greats, Nikola Jokic is making as good a case as any to be named league MVP this season.

As they entered the new season, the Denver Nuggets were coming off a heartbreaking finish to their 2017-18 campaign. With the chance to qualify for the postseason first time since 2013, they suffered a 112-106 overtime defeat to the Minnesota Timberwolves in game No. 82.

The Nuggets were expected to be fighting for a playoff spot once again this season, but despite their clear level of talent, they were still extremely young and inexperienced, and with a number of teams vying for just eight spots, nothing was guaranteed.

And yet, 42 games into the 2018-19 campaign, Denver has amassed a 29-13 record, best in the Western Conference, thanks in large part to the play of a Serbian center drafted 41st overall back in 2014.

In the age of NBA unicorns, Nikola Jokic is unlike anything the league has ever seen before, with the traditional skills of a seven-footer combined with the ridiculous point-guard like abilities to handle the basketball and facilitate the offense.

On the season, he’s averaging 19.7 points, 10.2 rebounds and 7.5 assists per game, putting himself in the rarified air of some of the games greatest players.

Heading into each and every NBA season, there is a predetermined list of players we deem capable of winning MVP honors. Since the award has become increasingly driven by the narrative surrounding each player, it’s become easy to see who has the best chances and who among the group is the leading candidate.

For all intents and purposes, this year’s MVP favorite has been Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks, who’s put up historic numbers in helping his team to the second-best record in the entire NBA.

Then there’s Jokic, who, prior to the season’s beginning, had the same odds of winning the coveted award as Jimmy Butler and less of a shot than DeMar DeRozan.

If the MVP award is truly narrative-based, then how many guys can make a case that tops what Jokic is currently doing? A star big man putting up numbers never before seen at his position on a team that, despite just missing the playoffs last season, has shot past expectations and up the standings to the best record in one of the toughest conferences in NBA history? That’s as good a story as we have in the NBA right now.

Let’s also not forget that while Denver some great young pieces, nobody would consider them for the All-Star Game at this point in their careers. Even more so, the Nuggets have had to deal with a number of injuries to guys like Gary Harris, Will Barton and Paul Millsap, and yet they haven’t skipped a beat. That’s due in large part to the play of Jokic.

Some prerequisites for the MVP award are as follows: Are you on a winning team? Are you putting up elite numbers? Do you or your team have a compelling story that fans can’t help but gravitate towards?

The Nuggets are the best in the West. Jokic is just 2.5 assists away from averaging a triple-double as a center, and Denver is one of the youngest teams in the NBA with a record far exceeding what most predicted.

There really isn’t any argument. If Jokic isn’t the 2018-19 MVP, then at the very least his name should come up more in the conversation.