The Next Generation: Nikola Jokic

Every season the draft brings a fresh infusion of talent to the NBA. In theory this is an even, steady process. In practice, hindsight and historical perspective show that there are borders and boundaries — talent doesn’t just arrive in the NBA, it arrives in generational waves. Sometimes we can’t see these aesthetic dividing lines for decades, sometimes you simply can’t miss them.

The present day NBA appears to be on the cusp of welcoming a remarkable new generation to its forefront — players who are not just incredible but incredibly unique. Players who will not just excel but transform the roles and responsibilities of basketball players as we understand them. Over the course of this week, The Step Back will be examining many of the players who could figure prominently in The Next Generation. Not every player we turn our attention to is destined to be a star, but all could play a role in defining the future of the NBA. Read the whole series here.

The Next Generation: Nikola Jokic

Groups of players tend to be shaped by the dominant playing styles of their generation, and it seems at no position is that fact more apparent than the center spot.

In recent years the giants of the NBA have been forced to adapt, adjust and go through a positional revolution redefining not just their role, but also the prerequisites to excel in terms of physicality and ability. What are now viewed as old-fashioned centers are thought to be methodical and plodding. These are the big men who can be found rooted in the paint, working only in the post, needing to be fed touches and requiring somewhat condescending possessions as a reward for running the floor.

Their modern counterparts are generalized as longer and more athletic, as if evolution has naturally led to these far superior players who will run the floor relentlessly. Think going from a blocked shot on defense to catching alley-oops on offense, or creating space for smaller players to attack by offering a pick-and-pop threat.

Read More: The Next Generation — Devin Booker has some Kobe Bryant in his game

Even with an evolving role, there remain very set lines of where the center will mostly operate offensively. The boundaries have expanded, but most centers will still work in the space found between the top of the key and the rim, and if they’re blessed with shooting range, they may also have the option to move out beyond the perimeter for the occasional long shot.

At a time when there’s an incredibly talented generation of young big men rising through the ranks of the NBA, these are the spaces where you’ll find almost all of them doing their best work offensively.

Nikola Jokic, on the other hand, is the center who has removed all apparent limitations as to where on the floor he can best influence a game. The Serbian has the sheer size and brute force to earn high quality looks around the basket and the touch to step out and make shots from deep, but unlike his peers, he also has the vision and skill to be able to work between those very pronounced lines.

In soccer — one of many sports Jokic played frequently growing up — the very best players are often those who sit slightly detached from the key areas of action. They aren’t pushed up front and asked to finish every opportunity their team creates, nor are they asked to position themselves further back to initiate sequences and build offensive momentum. Instead, these players operate in more of a free role in the space between those two positions.

This is the domain of the true playmakers. It’s about creating space with movement, spotting the slightest of gaps through which a decisive pass can be thread and then having the imagination and wherewithal to execute.

In some of the strongest, richest soccer cultures, it’s this player who is the most revered. In Italy, they’re referred to as a trequartista — due to the position which they often take up on the pitch operating in the third quarter of the field. Steven Bell of Back Page Football explained the phenomenon in a piece where the sentiments could now hold up to lovers of Denver Nuggets basketball as much as they were traditionally relevant to the calcio loving fans of Juventus or AS Roma.

"“There is certainly a level of class and ability that is a must. To simply pass a football is relatively simple, but to lead an attack and have the vision to see a pass as you bear down on the defence, pick the timing of the pass, then weight it to perfection to create a chance — this is the tricky component. As well as this, you have to see passes that are simply not on, and make them “on”. The reason for this, mainly due to the fact that the responsibility of creating chances for the side is down to you and your position.”"

This is Nikola Jokic. The game has long moved beyond the point where the thought of a forward orchestrating an offense seems absurd. The point-forward role has been around for decades. It has been perfected by LeBron James in recent seasons, and continues to diversify in bursts in the hands of playmakers such as Giannis Antetokounmpo and Draymond Green. But a center driving and directing the offense remains jarring, particularly when the player in question is only 22-years old.

Unsurprisingly, Jokic’s basketball odyssey began as a point guard during his teenage years back in Serbia. He’s always been quick to point out he was a backup point guard at the time, but what comes across clear is the joy which Jokic gleans from being able to create on the court. As he told Denver Stiffs about his formative point guard experience:

"“That’s the spot where you learn to really dribble the ball, control the ball, and control the game. Just to put your teammates in the right spot, and talk and work with them. I think that learning is what built the passing skills that I have.When I was learning as a point guard, I was passing a lot. Passing was my main option. Now that helps me a lot, just passing, passing, passing. When you pass the ball, it’s just so much easier to play.”"

His final sentiment could easily serve true as a mantra for Jokic’s Nuggets this season, as the team has reaped the rewards of a brand of unselfish ball-movement largely influenced by, and centered around, their Adriatic cornerstone.

The result has been a multitude of sequences where it appeared as if Denver had the ball on a string. Frequent ball swings complimented by diligent player movement are the goal for most coaches around the NBA, yet the Nuggets are one of the few teams who have shown the IQ and ability to execute those philosophies with any real regularity.

Denver ranks fourth in the NBA in assists per game at 24.7 a night, while they also post a mark of 5.7 secondary assists per game which is good enough for 10th overall. Their willingness to move the ball and ability to execute decisive passes has helped the Nuggets to build what’s currently the sixth-best offense in the league, with a mark of 109.1 points per 100 possessions.

Jokic plays a major role in creating those assist opportunities, and not just when the ball is in his hands. Like most effective NBA bigs, Jokic is an eager screen-setter. The Nuggets initiate a lot of their offense using Jokic in pick-and-roll sets when he’s on the floor, but what separates him from many of his peers is the frequency with which the Denver big doubles down and re-screens until the opposing defense has been left disoriented. This is all a matter of patience and precision.

Jokic can often be seen orchestrating the play with hand gestures, even when he’s working off the ball as the player setting the picks. Faced with tight perimeter coverage or an opponent looking to pack the paint, the Sombor native continues to diligently re-screen until a teammate can slip a coverage or the defense collapses, and then he’ll make the pass to set up the simple layup or wide open triple.

There’s nothing elaborate about the idea, it’s just a series of quick and fluid hand-offs which afford the Nuggets the time required to pick the lock. What makes it such a potent weapon is Jokic is dictating the action at all times, yet with the ball rarely settling in his hands for more than a second or two, denying him control doesn’t come easily.

Due to the position Jokic is making his reads from, he’s given a chance to control the offense. Gesturing with his hands, he can clear out space and then advise the exact moment when a teammate should pull the trigger.

It also affords him the time to identify mismatches, and then work towards exploiting them. Making a flashy pass takes a certain talent, but Jokic’s ability to direct traffic and execute the simple set-up is just as important.

It’s his gift of being able to methodically pick holes in the defense that paves the way for the rest of the 22-year-old’s offensive repertoire to be exhibited. If the threat of the simple pass leading to an easy bucket forces the opposition to step away from Jokic, in an attempt to tighten the passing lanes, it’s equally just giving him more time to plot his next move.

Shooting at a 37 percent success rate from behind the arc on the season, when afforded the time and space, the option has increasingly become to let it fly for the big Serb. He’ll never have to be the greatest shooter, but maintaining the illusion of being one will be vital for Jokic’s long-term success.

If a defender steps up to pressure him, listed at 6-foot-10, Jokic still has the height to be able to pass over most opponents. If the defender backs off, he can be made to pay from deep.

In picking the moment to shoot, or pass, or stall with an extra screen, it all comes back to a combination of factors that the trequartista would be relied upon to provide in soccer. It’s Jokic’s vision which sets him apart from the rest of the league’s rising stars — allowing him to step out further from the rim and leave his imprint on the game — but it’s also coupled with excellent decision-making and a sky-high basketball IQ.

An oft-told cliché in sport is the game just moves a little bit slower for the very best athletes. This is part of the reason why young players are generally said to need time to adjust to the pace of play. Every possession presents a player with a variety of options, and the reality is time is of the essence in deciding on which is the right choice for each specific situation.

Whether it’s an enhanced awareness of where his teammates are, or above-average peripheral vision, the results are showing something is allowing Jokic to play at an all-important split second ahead of those around him.

Like the best quarterbacks, he can spot a run from the moment he starts to turn his head, and while those around him are only noticing the move coming, he’s already in the process of executing the pass. Jokic explained to Lee Jenkins in an interview for Sports Illustrated:

"“I know my teammates better than opponents know them. If I can see my teammate in one moment, I know where he’ll be in the next moment. I don’t need to see him again.”"

None of this is to say Nikola Jokic — at this young stage of his career — is close to a complete player. Defense remains a work in progress for him, as does a short fuse leading to rash and unnecessary fouls. But there’s already a clear path for Jokic to excel, and by playing to his strengths it’s hard to see anything other an exceptionally bright future lying ahead for his team.

Jokic is unlike anyone else currently in the NBA, and by the time he’s finished playing it may be fair to see he was unique in the literal sense of the word rather than the hyperbolic usage often finding its way into the language of sports. Jokic plays the game on his terms, and because he has the necessary tools, there’s a practical application for the style and attitude he brings to the floor.

In essence, it can’t be put any better than Nikola Jokic described it in his own words for that same Sports Illustrated interview.

"“I believe the only muscles you need in basketball,” Jokic says, “are the ones in your brain.”"

The Serbian youngster may have arrived in Denver overweight and in need of some sculpting in order to look like an NBA athlete, but he’s already thinking about the game on a level most pros could only ever dream of.