At 31, Nikola Jokic has reached a rather unique stage of his career: one where finding something new to add to his game is probably harder than figuring out how to preserve what he already has.
For years in Denver, the task was the classic one for any developing superstar. Add a shot, perfect a move, find new solutions against certain defensive schemes. Today, the situation is different. Jokic is already a virtually complete playerand the Nuggets’ focus is inevitably shifting toward a different challenge.
He doesn’t need to train more. He needs to train smarter.
That’s according to Ognjen Stojakovican assistant coach with the Denver Nuggets and one of the people who has been alongside Jokic throughout virtually his entire NBA development.
Right now, he’s at the peak of his career. What we’re trying to do is prolong it, be smart and only work as much as necessary. The idea now is to work smart, not simply work more. We want to allow him to continue playing at this level
Ognjen Stojakovic
Jokic no longer needs to build his game
The interesting part of the quote is that “work smart, not hard.” It perfectly captures how the relationship between Jokic and his individual work has changed. The Serbian star no longer needs to spend an entire summer completely reinventing himself: by now, he has an answer for almost anything an NBA defense can throw at him.
As a result, his workouts are becoming increasingly specific.
Denver studies how opponents try to defend him and builds part of his training around those situations. Does a team protect the paint more aggressively and leave space elsewhere? They focus more on his shooting. Does another team use a particular type of coverage? They look for counters ahead of time.
Now we’re focusing more on the situations that can come up during games. If we know someone is going to use a very deep drop, we can work more on the three-point shot. If we know a team is going to defend him in a certain way, we look for solutions that can make him even more effective in those situations
Ognjen Stojakovic
It’s almost a complete change in perspective: don’t build a new Jokic every summer, but prepare the current version to solve increasingly different problems.
The Nuggets’ real goal is to make this Jokic last
At 31, Jokic no longer needs to prove that he can become a better player. Instead, Denver has to figure out how to avoid wasting unnecessary energy and mileage, preserving his body while continuing to adapt his game to whatever opponents throw at him.
For the Nuggets, Jokic’s next evolution could therefore be the least visible one. Not a new move, not necessarily more points, and not even a new version of his game. Simply finding a way to make the version they already have last as long as possible.
And considering the level the Serbian has already reached, that might be the best upgrade of all.