Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokić, Michael Malone, Michael Porter Jr. ranked highly by NBA GMs

The 2020-21 Denver Nuggets have the best center in the game, a top-five motivator and a breakout star in the making. That is prevailing thought according to general managers around the NBA, who had high praise for Nikola Jokić, Michael Malone, Michael Porter Jr. Jokić, who has made back-to-back All-NBA teams in the last season, edged the Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis as the No. 1 center in the NBA. The Serbian received 50 percent of the vote as compared to Davis’ 43 percent. The 25-year-old was also ranked as the second-best passer (25 percent) in the game after LeBron James (46 percent).  Porter Jr. shared honors when it came to being picked as the player who is most likely to have a breakout season, tied for first with Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with 15 percent of the vote. Jamal Murray also received some votes in the category. Additionally, the Nuggets came in third for the league’s most promising young core, tied with Atlanta and Boston.  Finally, the Nuggets became the first team in NBA history to rally back twice from a 3-1 deficit in the playoffs. Malone is getting his just praise for that accomplishment as he was ranked fifth out of the league’s 30 coaches as a motivator. Wes Unseld Jr. was tied for fourth as the best assistant coach in the league.  There are plenty of other interesting bits of information in John Schuhmann’s report. Check out the full story here.