Denver Nuggets: Should Nikola Jokic be West’s All-Star starter?

Nikola Jokic is an MVP candidate and has led the Denver Nuggets to the 2-seed in the Western Conference. So he has to be the West’s starting All-Star center, right?

The Denver Nuggets have been one of the NBA’s most pleasant surprises so far this season. With an impressive record of 31-14 (second in the Western Conference), Denver is on a mission to prove it’s a legitimate NBA Finals contender. Leading the way for the Nuggets? Their fourth-year man out of Serbia, Nikola Jokic.

Jokic, leading the Nuggets night in and night out this season (has played in all 45 games), has willed his team to the fourth-best record in the NBA. He’s done so without multiple key pieces for the majority of this season.

Had this team been struggling this season, there would be discussion that the injury bug might not have a hit a team worse. Winning has silenced all of that, but let’s not forget the Nuggets have been without starters Gary Harris (18 games missed) and Paul Millsap (eight games missed) at different times this season.

Denver has also seen very little from its leading bench scorer from last season, starting wing Will Barton (39 games missed). Top offseason acquisitions Isaiah Thomas and Michael Porter Jr. have yet to play this season. All of this makes Jokic’s stellar play all the more impressive.

With All-Star Weekend less than a month away, it’s time to assess who has played the most impressive basketball to warrant a starting all-star spot this year. At the center position for the West, it’s a two-man race between Jokic and New Orleans Pelicans superstar Anthony Davis. Davis has been his dominant self once again this year, but the case for Jokic to edge him out for the starting center spot is much more compelling.

With each of these players averaging double-doubles, Davis holds an edge in points per game and rebounds per game (29.3 points and 13.3 rebounds per game for the Brow, compared to 19.6 points and 10.0 rebounds per game for Jokic). But in terms of playmaking, the Joker has the upper hand. He is leading Denver with 7.7 assists per game to Davis’ 4.4 dimes per game. Jokic’s playmaking from the center position is unlike anything we’ve seen since the great Bill Walton.

On top of it all, Jokic’s scoring, playmaking and rebounding have all remained steady and efficient no matter who he’s playing with. With all the injuries for the Denver Nuggets, they’ve been forced to rely on Monte Morris, Juan Hernangomez, Malik Beasley and Torrey Craig (all players averaging over 20 minutes per game this year).

Those players played very minimal minutes, if any, the previous year. Credit head coach Michael Malone and the coaching staff for the Nuggets for finding a way to maintain success, but when it comes down to the producing on the court, there’s been one mainstay night in and night out. That’s Nikola Jokic. For Denver, Jokic is the system, and running everything through him has propelled the Nuggets to the fourth-best record in the NBA.

One criteria that has always played a part in deciding NBA All-Stars has been winning. Snubs are typically due to injuries or players that produce good stats but are on bad teams (think Devin Booker and Kemba Walker last year).

The same process should work when deciding All-Star starters. Winning matters, and the Denver Nuggets have been winning more than any other team in the West aside from the defending champion Golden State Warriors. Jokic has simply done more with less and should be rewarded for doing so.