Without question I'd take Dame and Nurk. I can mostly hide a bad perimeter defender but a big man who is a bad defender is really hard to overcome. I know Denver is doing it right now but Murray and Jokic haven't even played in a playoff game yet.
Right now id take Dame / Nurk. You have to admit though if you were Denver the fact those two already look that good you’d feel pretty good about it.
Oh no question they will be formidable for many years. Denver is a year away from being where we were at in 2016 with having to pay Murray after paying Jokic this summer. It will be interesting to see if they keep Millsap this summer and how they build once their cap situation looks like ours does now. Keep in mind they gave up picks to stay out of the tax this year and that bought them one off season coming up to manage the cap or be stuck like we are for awhile. I know that has nothing to do with the question of who is a better duo though.
I've been saying it since the Warriors became good. You aren't going to consistently beat them playing small ball at their game. Why not do the opposite and build a big and physical front line? It obviously gives them problems.
My stupid take has been all along that a team will come along who slows things down and can punish many of these teams for being too small. I thought had Cousins stayed healthy last year they couldve been a real threat. They had guys who could guard the perimeter and then two guys who could play bully ball and still shoot enough that teams couldnt clog the paint. I think were seeing that with Nurkic right now teams are not used to seeing a big dude like Nurk who’s skilled enough to punish teams in the post. Even decent defenders like adams and capela they dont have to play against that type of offensive player. They’re used to playing help defense on cutters or guards driving the lane.
Looking into Denver's situation a little more... In the summer of 2020 when Murray will be an RFA, the Nuggets will have over $61 million already tied up with just 3 players under contract (Jokic, Harris, and Barton). As of right now they have no picks in the 2019 draft. Their 2018 selection, Michael Porter Jr, hasn't played a game and doesn't look like he will anytime soon. Even if they keep Millsap around he'll be 35 that summer. It will be fascinating to see how they navigate the cap this summer. This could be a case much like the Blazers where they overpay some of their role players because they are having some success this season and then be locked into a roster without an easy way to take the next step.
I think you may exaggerating a little. I don't think anyone said the center position was dead and didn't matter, just that it was no longer the most important position anymore.....on offense. PG's and scoring wings are the stars of the league...plus they tend to stay healthier. Bigs and their fragile feet, backs, and knees are not often dependable.
Perhaps. But I'm pretty sure if I cared enough I could dig up a significant handful of posts saying that the C position is obsolete.
Thanks for the detailed analysis Very enlightening! I still have hopes Nurk will become the best center in the NBA but I guess it's going to have to be in a different way from Jokic. I love Nurk: His attidude, heart, smarts and the way he's gelled (sp?) with Dame.
First thing you might want to do is look at exactly how much of a difference that % is? Assist rate is how many assists the team has while the player is on the floor and made an assist. Some of that goes to shooting and the way shots are taken and some of that goes to who the offense run through. Now also you have to think about how many assists a team generally gets? When talking about Denver they went to around 27 this year so far. The Blazers are sitting about 21 but guess what? Nurkic has started to actually make shots around the rim and that number has gone up substantially. Last three games they averaged 26. Now the Rate cannot include the baskets that the player himself gets. Last year for Denver was 25 and the Blazers were 19. I would venture a guess that if Nurkic continues to make shots and continues to demand a bunch of respect other teams will try guarding him different. When they do he will see other opportunities to get assists dumping the ball off to players around the rim and passing the ball out to an open three point shooter. If the Blazers continue to push their average up then Nurkic will look better in this stat.
Best ALL AROUND centers in the nba, ranked, in my opinion 1. AD 2. Embiid 3. Cousins 4. Jokic 5. Nurkic AD is obvious. A healthy Cousins is neck and neck with Embiid. Jokic sucks defensively but he’s so good on the other end he makes the top 5 anyway. I went with Nurk over KAT because Nurk is better defensively and also because he sons KAT every time they play each other.
