What would be Jokic's career without Murray?

[srhcan]

Time and again I have seen Jamal Murray's great contribution towards Nuggets. What would be Jokic's career without Murray?

[GeorgeSears]

Just like Michael without Scottie: No rings.

[KembaWalker]

More MVPs, would have won last year because the Nuggets would truly not fall off that much in the regular season. Jokic is that good. But they would need Murray in the playoffs

[EmpireFalls]

It would depend on the player who they got instead of him. Obviously there are some who he would win a title with, and some who he would not win a title with. Hard to say without knowing what they do with Murray’s cap space.

[dhsilv2]

I mean what do they get instead of him with his max salary spot? Murray is a odd guy. Last night the Nuggets never need that game winner if not for Murray's poor first half, not that Joker was cooking either. Murray's really special in that he can have a poor game and still make big plays late. But I'm sure the Nuggets wouldn't mind if he just played consistently and they could avoid needing those big shots.

But bottom line is if you take away key contributors from any team, they win less. That's basketball.

[TravisScott55]

Every star in history needed a good co-star. Jokic is no different.

[zero rings]

Depends on what they use his salary on.

Murray didn’t have a single good shooting game this series. He hit two big shots, but on the whole he was pretty bad. Replace him with a more efficient/consistent player and they wouldn’t need the late game heroics.

[sp6r=underrated]

Time and again I have seen Jamal Murray's great contribution towards Nuggets. What would be Jokic's career without Murray?

If they replace Murray with nothing he has no rings, less MVPs and may be a second round virgin. He also gets way more derision from a subset of the basketball press who say you can't win with an unathletic center.

The team may be better or worse from 2021 on if you use his salary on another player. He's good but he doesn't markedly overplay his contract.

[dhsilv2]

Depends on what they use his salary on.

Murray didn’t have a single good shooting game this series. He hit two big shots, but on the whole he was pretty bad. Replace him with a more efficient/consistent player and they wouldn’t need the late game heroics.

Exactly, after 5 games in the playoffs here are his box metrics.

14.4 PER
0.023 WS/48
-0.2 BPM

We can all agree he's better than the box because of his role and what he does. But those aren't the kinda stats you can't replace and his type of play isn't that rare in today's league. A lot of guards could do well next to Joker. That said..I wouldn't gamble on swapping out what's working.

[TinmanZBoy]

Is like Tim Duncan without Manu or Parker…
Or Tom Brady without Bill Belichick

[Onus]

Is Jamal Murray better than Kyrie is the real question op wants to ask.

[TinmanZBoy]

Another question could be asked if without Jokic, can Murray make the playoffs

[Wallace_Wallace]

Does Denver get to replace a max contract with someone else? Sounds like to me you just wanted him to be off roster. In that case, Jokic would probably be LeBron James, the first tenure with Cleveland……breaking records and maybe make a conference finals appearance or two, but never serious contenders

[LeBronSpaghetti]

What if the Nuggets removed a $35 million dollar player and didn’t replace him? Would Jokic still win? If not, he’s a fraud!

What if any other all time great was playing with a bunch of random dudes off the street? Would they still have the clutch gene?

So many great questions to think about.

[Lakers824]

Depends on what they use his salary on.

Murray didn’t have a single good shooting game this series. He hit two big shots, but on the whole he was pretty bad. Replace him with a more efficient/consistent player and they wouldn’t need the late game heroics.

Exactly, after 5 games in the playoffs here are his box metrics.

14.4 PER
0.023 WS/48
-0.2 BPM

We can all agree he's better than the box because of his role and what he does. But those aren't the kinda stats you can't replace and his type of play isn't that rare in today's league. A lot of guards could do well next to Joker. That said..I wouldn't gamble on swapping out what's working.

This obviously isn't good but he's better than this. It's a small sample size during a series in which he happened to struggle.

Is he a 2nd option the caliber of Kobe, Wade, Kyrie, Davis, or Curry? No, but very few second options are that good.

[NDaATL]

The real question is what would Murray's career be without Jokic.

He'd just be another score first PG and numbers would be less efficient. Jokic makes his life so much easier and Murray's production could easily be replicated by dozens of other guards in the league.

[dhsilv2]

Depends on what they use his salary on.

Murray didn’t have a single good shooting game this series. He hit two big shots, but on the whole he was pretty bad. Replace him with a more efficient/consistent player and they wouldn’t need the late game heroics.

Exactly, after 5 games in the playoffs here are his box metrics.

14.4 PER
0.023 WS/48
-0.2 BPM

We can all agree he's better than the box because of his role and what he does. But those aren't the kinda stats you can't replace and his type of play isn't that rare in today's league. A lot of guards could do well next to Joker. That said..I wouldn't gamble on swapping out what's working.

This obviously isn't good but he's better than this. It's a small sample size during a series in which he happened to struggle.

Is he a 2nd option the caliber of Kobe, Wade, Kyrie, Davis, or Curry? No, but very few second options are that good.

Curry lol...come on man. No second man in NBA history is Curry's level (as he pretty much can't be a second option)!

But Murray is an incredibly inconsistent guy who isn't an especially good defender on top of his hot and cold shooting tendencies. There are a good 15-20 guys in the league who could slot over into what Murray does who should be as good or better. Again, I'm not about to gamble against what's working. But Murray really isn't a special player overall.

[LockoutSeason]

You already saw what Jokic looked like without Murray. Back to back years of getting swept.

Murray would also be a homeless man’s Dame Lilliard without Jokic.

They need each other.

[Jta444]

What would Lebron’s career be without Wade Bosh Allen Kyrie Love AD Rondo Howard Reaves?

[NDaATL]

You already saw what Jokic looked like without Murray. Back to back years of getting swept.

Murray would also be a homeless man’s Dame Lilliard without Jokic.

They need each other.

Jokic would still be successful with many other players who could replace Murray. You could replace Murray with Kyrie, Brunson, Lillard, Ja, Fox, Hali, Curry, Harden, Garland, Shai, Luka, Dejounte, Trae, Holiday, Lamelo, etc. Hell it doesn't even have to be a PG, but other players like CJ Mccolum, Herro, could fill that gap when you have a player like Jokic.

Murray would have zero chance of being successful without Jokic unless he was on a completely loaded roster.

This is a ridiculous thread.