Denver Nuggets: Nikola Jokic A Better Prospect Than Kristaps Porzingis

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 3:49 p.m. ET

Fansided, Brendan Vogt/FanSided via Hoops Habit

The Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks found their Euro mega prospects one year and 37 draft spots apart. The Nuggets got the better player in Nikola Jokic.

Ask any Denver Nuggets fan if they're excited about the future of the team right now. Almost all of them will reply categorically: yes. For all the talent and potential on the Nuggets roster, one player in particular is responsible for this newfound hope—the Serbian Sensation, Nikola Jokic.

The Nuggets drafted the skilled big man with the 41st overall pick of the 2014 NBA draft, but they didn't get to see him in action that year.

Jokic was playing for the Serbian basketball team KK Mega Basket—currently known as Mega Leks—and he opted out of a potential rookie season for one more go in the Adriatic League.

In 2015-16, he signed a multi-year deal with the Denver. At the time, Jokic was still a relative unknown in the NBA universe. His arrival was, for the most part, under-reported on the national level.

This is likely because he was overshadowed by the incoming Latvian wunderkind, Kristaps Porzingis.

Unlike Jokic, the casual NBA fan was well aware of who Porzingis was. Despite the reaction when the Knicks selected KP fourth overall in the 2015 draft, the unicorn's arrival was surrounded by hype and high expectations by many knowledgable basketball fans.

On paper, Porzingod looked to be the superior prospect to the 6'11" Jokic. Porzingis is 7'3″—and still growing?— but he possesses both the footwork and handles of a wing.

Armed with touch from outside and surprising control of his body for a gangling giant, the sky is the limit for the Zinger. He made an impact on the league right away. It took him about a week to make the put-back dunk his thing.

In addition to birthing some of the best highlights on YouTube, Godzingis put up superior numbers to those of Jokic in their first full year of NBA action.

Although the Serbian shot the ball more efficiently, Porzingis held a slight advantage in rebounding and was clearly the superior defensive player, while managing to score more points per game:

Per Game Table
Rk	Player	G	GS	MP	FG%	3P	3P%	eFG%	FT	FTA	FT%	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PTS
1	Nikola Jokic	80	55	21.7	.512	0.4	.333	.535	1.9	2.4	.811	7.0	2.4	1.0	0.6	1.3	10.0
2	Kristaps Porzingis	72	72	28.4	.421	1.1	.333	.467	2.8	3.3	.838	7.3	1.3	0.7	1.9	1.7	14.3

You might notice the discrepancy in the games started column. This is because Jokic didn't earn a full-time spot in the starting lineup until December of this year. From that moment on, he has been the best center in basketball.

Since Dec. 15, when Mike Malone put Jokic into the starting lineup, the Denver Nuggets have evolved into the most explosive offense in the NBA. That sentence might leave folks in Houston, Cleveland and Golden State in disbelief, but it's true.

Few, if any, centers can match the numbers that Jokic has put up since becoming the starter. Big Honey leads all centers in assists with 5.7, triple-doubles with five and he's top-10 in both total rebounds and points per game.

He's also the only center that has taken more than 10 shots a game while hitting better than 60 percent of them during that span.

When you compare Jokic's numbers to Porzingis' since that date, it's really not even close. No. 15 has superior stats in these seven different categories:

	PPG	FG%	3PT%	FT%	REB	AST	+/-
Porzingis	16.0	42.7%	34.0%	78.4%	6.8	1.5	-1.9
Jokic	19.2	60.3%	39.5%	80.8%	10.7	5.7	6.2

Stats from NBA.com

Jokic is outperforming KP in almost all aspects of the game. He's clearly the more dominant rebounder and the assist numbers speak for themselves. He's also scoring more points and doing it more efficiently.

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Jokic's efficiency while starting has been astounding, no matter where he is shooting from. His EFG% on shots from less than 10 feet is 65.3. Impressive work, but remarkable when paired with his EFG% of 65.4 on the catch-and-shoot.

KP may take more difficult shots on a bad Knicks team, but his percentages fall well short of Jokic's in those same categories.

Even in three-point land—where Porzingis supposedly holds an advantage—Jokic is out-performing the Latvian, albeit on fewer attempts per game.

If raw numbers on both the individual and team level don't sell you, then perhaps the power of YouTube will. I remember the first Porzingis put-back vividly. I remember thinking "what could ever be more fun than watching someone this big move this well?"

Then I really started watching Jokic.

What KP did for the put-back in 2015, Jokic has done and more for the flashy pass from a big man. Watch these delicious dimes, soundtracked by what I can only assume is Serbian techno:

Not only is he capable of ludicrous passes, but he's more than willing to try them. His teammates have figured this out and Denver fast breaks have turned into one of the more exciting plays in basketball.

This, to me, is still THE Jokic pass. pic.twitter.com/0mF5ZtksNB

— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) March 16, 2017

Jokic can run the point on a fast break, but he's also adept at passing out of the high post. Most Nuggets fans can break these plays down, but there are videos and experts for that. If you really want to dive deep into Jokic's passing, I strongly recommend giving this a view.

The arguments on behalf of Porzingis are likely made from the perspective of his enormous potential and the unlikelihood that he's even scratched the surface of it just yet. With superior athleticism and size, Porzingis is already the better defender.