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It's still Jokic and just like Steph, I am not counting any team with Jokic out of contention.
While East has been a cold wae with Bucks and Celtics stacking up arsenal. West is going to be a bloodbath with Warriors, Lakers, Suns and Nuggets having a real shot. Grizzlies and Kings are hidden in there but I don't know from a playoff standpoint how they will fare against the experienced teams.
Nuggets aren’t involved in the blood bath.
The “blood bath” in the West is for second place lol
Not likely. This isn't a dig at Jokić, it's just that there's so much parity and other external factors at play in today's NBA.
I remember Lakers, Bucks, and Warriors fans as well as opposing fans all thinking those teams would repeat after winning it all in their respective seasons only to fail miserably.
Last season is last season.
Depends what fail miserably means, especially in context of this question, which was 2-3 years.
Lakers made it back to WCF by third year
Warriors went to 6 in the second round only one year later. And have 2 more years left in this window technically - also they already won 4 rings with their core so this is kinda post Championship anyway.
Bucks went to 7 without their number 2 scorer the year after and had the worst shooting night like ever. Giannis got hurt 1st quarter of game 1 this year and missed 2 more. So no best player in league for basically 3 games of the series.
Now they have Dame and entering third season, but their biggest issue been health, not lack of play.
I’m not saying second round or Conference finals equates a ring but the teams have hung around and for Lakers and Bucks the issue seems to be injuries and not so much the play on the court. I agree about parity but I also think if Nuggets lost Jokic for 3 games in a series maybe they don’t make the finals either. So ultimately it’s going to come down to health.
Lakers made it back to WCF by third year
4th. After winning in 2020, they lost in the first round in 2021, missed the playoffs in 2022, and were swept in 2023.
Warriors went to 6 in the second round only one year later. And have 2 more years left in this window technically.
Losing in the 2nd round after a majority of people considered them the overwhelming favorites in the West is a miserable failure.
Bucks went to 7 without their number 2 scorer the year after and had the worst shooting night like ever. Giannis got hurt 1st quarter of game 1 this year and missed 2 more. So no best player in league for basically 3 games of the series.
The Celtics series in 2022 was winnable even without Khris. And in 2023, they blew double digit 4th quarter leads in back-to-back playoff games with Giannis playing.
I’m not saying second round or Conference finals equates a ring but the teams have hung around and for Lakers and Bucks the issue seems to be injuries and not so much the play on the court.
Injuries are one of the external factors I'm referring to.
The difference is our team is entirely in its prime, or not even there yet.
Yeah, Bucks fans said the same thing. Lakers fans thought they were set with AD being relatively young too. Anything can happen.
I agree anything can happen but those are some god awful examples. OKC with Durant, Westbrook, Harden going to the finals super early then never again comes to mind as a better example
So you agree with my overall point yet chose to argue anyways. Go find a friend.
I'm not arguing lol, I'm simply telling you your examples are shit
lakers
injuries made AD go from a top 3 player and top 3 pf of all time into a fringe top 10 guy.
bucks
They only got past the second round because Giannis injured kyrie out of frustration (and because harden pulled his hammy). I think most people were aware that the bucks ring was one of those “once in a lifetime” events.
Nobody considered them the best team in the league and nobody outside of Milwaukee considered Giannis to be the best player in the league after KD outplayed him.
On the other hand the nuggets bodied a mostly healthy suns, lakers, heat with jokic looking like he was easily the best in the world.
As long as jokic, Jamal, Gordon stay healthy, nuggets will continue to contend.
On the other hand the nuggets bodied a mostly healthy suns, lakers, heat with jokic looking like he was easily the best in the world.
None of those teams were healthy.
mostly healthy teams
mostly
5 different teams have won the championship in the last 5 seasons. If I had to bet the Nuggets or the field winning in the next 2-3 years, I’m taking the field.
Jokic is the best player in the world in his prime so I wouldn’t count him out
I remember when GIannis won - a lot of the same discussion was occurring but you realize how difficult it is to repeat, especially when health becomes more and more of a factor each season. Everything has to line up just right for you.
Yup.
A lot of people in this thread showing they don't watch the NBA or know its history, even the last twenty years.
The 73-9 Warriors couldn't repeat. Let that sink in. It took them breaking the league in order to do so and even then you always gave those Cavs teams a snowball's chance in hell (the '17 Cavs were a historically great offensive team but just did not have the personnel to cover Curry, Klay and KD).
For Jokic and Giannis, they'll definitely win again by my estimation but thats a safe bet; they're two of the best players in the game at the moment. Whether or not they win at least 3 or more is a very, very low chance.
Yeah but the difference is that Giannis needed to injure kyrie (in addition to a non-contact harden injury) to win. Back then everyone knew that the bucks ring was not likely to happen again and that they weren’t the best team.
Jokic rolled a bunch of mostly healthy teams.
The ultimate “tell me you’ve never played basketball” argument strikes again
tell me you’ve never played basketball
You should tell that to the various NBA players who all agree that Giannis undercut him on purpose lol.
Or guys like claxton who he tried to injure over the past season out of frustration.
It’s funny because you’ll probably agree with me in 2-3 years after Giannis leaves milwuakee
You should tell that to the various NBA players who all agree that Giannis undercut him on purpose lol.
Name one who’s not Kyrie. Should’ve been easy enough to type at least one name if there are so many?
Anywho, since it’s clear you don’t know, landing on someone’s feet in the restricted area is so common and unavoidable that the NBA rule book specifically exempts the restricted area from the landing space rule. It’s a part of playing at the rim, there is an inherent degree of risk in playing a sport after all.
You’ll notice that Bucks fans don’t say that dumb shit about Clint Capela “undercutting” Giannis when his knee bent backwards.
Gilbert arenas pointed it out?
And I don’t see why kyrie can’t say it. Plenty of other players like grant Williams and claxton have commented on his dirty plays too. It’s not like this is a one-off event.
it’s really common
Yeah it’s common when the paint is crowded, not on a barely contested layup (jrue had like a hand up facing the wrong direction) and you shuffle your feet trying to get under the other guy. Looked like a paint version of the zaza injury to me.
It’s especially funny because Giannis is a guy who has a history of trying to injure people when he’s losing.
He did the “clothesline a player on a fast break” on Tatum when losing to Boston/halfway through the Phoenix series to dbook.
He also tried to rip Clax and grant Williams arms off Kelly olynyk style.
The two pillars of wisdom, Kyrie and Gilbert Arenas
probably 50/50, he's not injury prone
With the level of talent and parity in the league saying there’s a 50/50 chance is insane, especially considering the new powerhouse teams created this off season.
I think high, he's really really good lol, and so is Jamal Murray.
do is christian braun
Nikola Jokic will never win a ring -2019
Better chance than any other star in the league right now for sure
none bc knicks bout to three peat
GO KNICKS
Nuggets already had "not enough depth" to win, and they did. If their bench can do that much better in playoffs than on an average day in the season in 2023, then their next bench can do it in 2024. I just don't know how likely it is.
I feel pretty strong about them. Unlike most champions recently, they still have some distance to grow. And as far as Bruce Brown was great in playoffs, he was not a unique player overall, and compared to other teams, it's not the biggest lost ever. It's important to have 5 guys that seem happy in their role and their contract, that is not common. Jokić has been historically amazing a few years ago, and then made wild progress every year - necessary in current times when others also do, but a sign that they can keep doing it.
Most of the serial winners started winning exactly at the age of 28, so this team really fits the profile.
It's still hard to bet on something that is decided by a few games in one specific moment of the whole year, so it's a coin toss for me at most. But yeah, over the next three years, I would bet on Nuggets winnnig one at least.
I think he has a 50% chance, which I can say with certainty because I regularly wear a top hat and monocle.
50/50
There’s a chance they win. But they haven’t gotten better, while the other contenders got much better. The league changed a lot from last year.
If they are healthy enough to make the finals they are favorites to win
Maybe never, I've been told Jokic cant win championship as a no: 1 option because he doesn't play defense and cant protect the rim.
It’s hard to repeat because when you win, other teams actually see how good your role players are and they will pay more than you can pay to take those players. Nuggets already lost Bruce Brown. They might lost someone else next offseason.