Nikola Jokic Set the Bar Last Season. Denver Needs Him to Clear It Again
Jokic posted a near-unprecedented season for a center, and Denver's thinner supporting cast this year asks him to repeat it without a drop in the passing that makes it work.
Last season Jokic put up 27.7 points, 12.9 rebounds and 10.7 assists a night across 65 games, pairing that with a 45.8 percent assist rate that no center approaches. Denver is asking him to repeat that balance with less continuity around him, after losing key pieces from the lineups that worked best.
The Center Who Runs Point
Jokic's 10.7 assists a game last season came with a 45.8 percent assist rate, a figure no center in the league approaches, and he did it while still carrying a 28.9 percent usage rate. Over 65 games and 34.8 minutes a night, he scored 27.7 points and pulled down 12.9 rebounds. Denver's offense ran at a 126.1 rating with him on the floor, and the ball moved through him whether he was scoring or setting someone else up.
The Efficiency Behind It
That scoring and playmaking load didn't cost Denver its shooting. Jokic hit 56.9 percent from the field and 38.0 percent from three on 4.5 attempts a game, plus 83.1 percent from the line, for a 67.0 percent true shooting mark. His defensive rating sat at 115.3, which left him at a plus-10.8 net rating whenever he played, the clearest number for how quiet Denver's offense goes without him.
Where He's Found His Best Partners
Denver's most-used five-man group last season, Aaron Gordon, Jokic, Cameron Johnson, Jamal Murray and Christian Braun, played 360 minutes across 23 games at a net rating of plus-13.5. A grouping of Jokic, Murray, Johnson, Peyton Watson and Spencer Jones went plus-20.1 over 171 minutes, but Watson is no longer with the team, so that exact five is gone from Adelman's board. A Jokic, Murray, Johnson, Julian Strawther and Braun unit is still on the roster and held a plus-6.3 mark over 119 minutes.
What This Season Asks of Him
Jokic is playing on a deal that pays him $59.0 million this season, with a $62.8 million player option for 2027-28 that puts his next move in his own hands. He isn't on the injury report entering camp. The job this season is not to do more, it's to hold the same split between scoring and setting up others while Denver has already lost Bruce Brown and Watson from its best lineups. If that passing rate holds as the shot volume around him shifts, the offense stays what it was. If it slips, there isn't an obvious second option to absorb it.
What were Nikola Jokic's stats last season?
Jokic played 65 games last season, putting up 27.7 points, 12.9 rebounds and 10.7 assists a night while shooting 56.9 percent from the field and 38.0 percent from three.
Is Nikola Jokic injured entering the 2026-27 season?
No. Jokic is not listed on Denver's injury report heading into training camp.
