No one, not even the most optimistic Denver Nuggets fan, ever thought that Nikola Jokic was gonna turn out to be so great. He was taken 41st overall in the NBA Draft during a Taco Bell commercial, and not many people knew about him.
Jokic worked his way up, even making the Nuggets part ways with Jusuf Nurkic to make him the starting center for the team. Now, he’s a two-time MVP, and one of the greatest foreign players of all time.
That’s why former NBA player Gilbert Arenas believes that Jokic is actually the greatest NBA Draft pick since Michael Jordan in 1984, even ahead of other legends like LeBron James and Kobe Bryant.
Gilbert Arenas Says Nikola Jokic Is The Greatest NBA Draft Pick Since Michael Jordan
“This is really, really a hot take; Joker is the best draft pick since Michael Jordan, 1984,” Arenas said. “LeBron is a number one pick. So, the Number one pick is supposed to play like the number one pick. Jordan was the number three pick, which actually helps his boost of what he did. Joker was a second-round pick, so for a second-round pick to actually play like a number one pick. That makes him the second-best draft pick by his numbers. Two-time MVP, bout to be three-time MVP, four-time All-NBA player. Those numbers will actually beat second for his projections.”
“Third would be Kobe Bryant,” Arenas continued. “You could argue Kobe was the second-best pick, but because Joker is so far second round he has to be the number two. You gotta understand, the second round pick, that is two years, and you are gone.”
That might seem like a hot take, but Arenas could actually be right on point here. From a value standpoint, it’s hard to argue that any other second-round pick has been better than Jokic thus far.
