The Whiteboard: What to make of a skinny Nikola Jokic

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Nikola Jokic is everybody’s favorite NBA thicc boi. Or he used to be, at least. Because it appears the Denver Nuggets superstar has attacked his quarantine workout regimen with the same verve the rest of us have reserved for our Postmates deliveries in self-isolation.

Jokic is known primarily known for his incredibly crafty and skillful game, from his otherworldly passing ability to his soft touch. However, it almost always comes with the qualifier of possessing these skills as a seven-footer with a dad bod.

Usually, it’s used as a compliment for such an intriguing blend of unwieldy build, high basketball I.Q and a mastery of skills typically reserved for guards. As in, Jokic is the most unbelievably skilled seven-footer with a dad bod we’ve ever seen!

Sometimes, though, it’s almost an insult that mistakes the forest (his skill) for the trees (his Grawp-shaped body). More along the lines of Man, Jokic is crafty for a doughy seven-footer!

Suffice it to say that Skinny Nikola Jokic — who allegedly has a four-pack now! — is freaking people out. Can a ground-bound center who normally uses his sheer mass to his advantage down low really maintain that kind of proficiency now that he’s lost so much weight?

We’ll save you the suspense: Yes. Yes he can.

The good-natured jokes are only natural, given his dramatic transformation from the alarmingly out-of-shape guy who showed up at training camp in September to this slimmed-down figure. Jokic’s conditioning has been a concern for years now, especially come playoff time when the Nuggets need him to log heavy minutes. With four-and-a-half months between NBA games thanks to this ongoing hiatus, it was only natural to worry about a central figure like Jokic falling out of shape during quarantine.

It appears that’s much less of a concern now. The injury risk of being away from basketball for so long and jumping right back into meaningful games still applies to everyone, but at his size and build, that risk would’ve been higher had he not taken it upon himself to stay disciplined during this extended break.

Losing this much weight in such a short amount of time may take some getting used to. He’ll no longer be able to bully opponents on the block with his sheer size and uncontainable force like he used to. But it’s worth noting this transformation didn’t happen overnight; Jokic said in February that he had lost 20-25 pounds during the season, and in that same month where he was in his best shape, he posted a gargantuan 25.5 points, 10.0 rebounds and 7.2 assists a night.

Also worth noting: Post-ups only constituted 24.1 percent of Jokic’s possessions this season, per NBA.com, and he shot 57.1 percent on those possessions. “Bully ball” was never what made him special. Jokic still has more than enough footwork, intelligence and passing ability to remain a formidable weapon operating out of the post, which, again, is not where the majority of his possessions came from anyway.

If anything, the Joker operates more from the elbows and perimeter, and his weight loss won’t affect his incredible court vision, passing or soft touch. His 3-point shooting has underwhelmed the last two seasons, but he’s still hoisting 3.5 per game this season and defenses have to respect his perimeter shot. That won’t change with his body transformation either.

Jokic will no longer be able to man the post like an immovable object on the defensive end, but as a lighter big man with better conditioning, hopefully he’ll be able to move quicker and make second efforts on plays. A more mobile 5 on the defensive end could do wonders for an already solid Denver defense that ranked 12th in defensive rating before the season was suspended.

When Kevin Love lost a ton of weight, it impacted his game, and he even admitted he probably lost a little too much weight and strength. For Marc Gasol, that kind of dramatic body transformation led to some of the best basketball of his career. Given that Gasol’s skill-set is much closer to Jokic’s game than Love’s, there’s less reason to be concerned about a skilled player being in better shape.

As long as he’s not getting thrown around on the boards or on the block (which seems unlikely, given his strength), Skinny Nikola Jokic — a guy who was averaging 20.2 points, 10.2 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game while being in less-than-optimal shape — should be just fine.

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