I don’t think there’s a very clear answer. They’re the consensus top 2 in the league, similar age, career achievements and late bloomers. Both relatively injury free so far though Jokic is more available, both seem intent on staying all or most of their careers with their draft team.
Personally, I think it’s harder to build a team around Giannis you’re going to need people to compliment his weaknesses in shooting, free throws and late-game situations. Jokic dosen’t need as specific tailoring of teammates to his skills so your team might be more consistent through roster transitions. I guess you could knock Joker down for his defense but finding a power forward like Gordon who can cover up a bit on defense is easier than finding multiple good shooters.
Secondly, Joker’s game atleast appears like it’ll age better because it’s more IQ and finesse than athleticism. That might change if Giannis develops his game with age like Lebron did but it’s a less certain bet than Jokic.
Probably Giannis, even though I think the teams ceiling would be higher under jokic, and jokic would invite a more aesthetically pleasing style of play.
Jokic can’t iso so you can’t build a heliocentric offense around him. You have to surround him with smart vets who know when to cut (so they can take advantage of jokic’s passing) and a secondary scorer capable of isoing.
Giannis you can build a playoff contender by just throwing him the ball and asking him to either run over the defense or kick out to a shooter. Hardest thing about building around Giannis is finding a big who can defend and shoot 3s.
Jokic smashes people in iso all the time, that's like step 1 to even being an offensive threat.
Last year he literally went through every franchise big in the Western conference, and scored on them both under the post and from the wing.
What made him so good was that, his passing game is even better than his already top tier iso.
You’re right, iso player is too broad of a term. He’s a great shooter and post player. He also collapses defenses when he gets the ball in the post, and is a great passer.
He’s not a great ball handler or dribbler and he’s not fast. He’s not a guy who I would expect to make things happen in transition. If I was starting a young team with rookies who like to run but aren’t that great off ball I think Giannis would be a better fit. The alternative would be dumping the ball into the post and ask jokic to score every play.
Absolutely ignorant take. He’s one of the best iso players ever if you realize that an isolation doesn’t have to start above the arc.
You’re right, he is a good iso player. But I think r/nba has a hard time acknowledging some of the limitations to his game like his dribbling and his speed, which is what I was trying to convey in my comment. I talk about that more with the other guy who responded.
I still don’t really understand where you’re coming from. He’s really an excellent dribbler. Basically never gets the ball stolen and he’s got a surprising bag of dribble moves. Dribbling isn’t about flash, it’s about putting the ball in the best position to help the player do what they want to do. Jokic accomplishes that better than almost anyone else in the league. And when opponents don’t respect his ball handling he can punish them.
He’s slow as fuck though I’ll give you that.