Nikola Jokic doesn’t just sit at the top of the NBA - he’s the measuring stick. And if the Chicago Bulls are serious about finding their next center, his own comments on who bothers him most offer a pretty clear scouting checklist.
In a podcast interview, the Denver Nuggets star broke down the kinds of defenders who can make life difficult for him. That alone is worth paying attention to, because Jokic isn’t handing out compliments lightly. He’s the league’s reigning standard, with three NBA Most Valuable Player awards and the 2022-23 NBA championship - a title run that also brought him Finals MVP.
One thing Jokic made clear is that stopping him isn’t always about a single body in the paint. Sometimes, it’s the whole group working in sync. As he put it, “Some teams defend very well as a unit”.
The Los Angeles Lakers showed that formula on Feb 22, 2025, when they beat the Nuggets 123-100 and built their plan around denying Jokic clean touches. They fronted him aggressively all game and held him to just seven field goal attempts.
That stands out even more when you consider Jokic averaged 19.5 field goal attempts per game in the 2024-25 season, according to Basketball Reference. It was also an unusual night for the Lakers overall, since they finished the season ranked 15th in defense, according to Basketball Reference.
Still, the game is a useful example of what a coordinated approach can look like when a team is trying to take Jokic out of rhythm.
Jokic also pointed to individual defenders with different tools. Some, he said, get the job done simply because of their size. He mentioned the Indiana Pacers' Ivica Zubac and his former Nuggets teammate, current Utah Jazz center Jusuf Nurkic, saying they’re effective because “they’re just bulkier”.
But size isn’t the only answer. Jokic also brought up smaller centers who give him problems in their own way, including “tricky” restricted free-agent Jalen Duren and former Bulls first-round draft pick, Orlando Magic center Wendell Carter Jr.
The lesson for Chicago is pretty straightforward: if the Bulls want a center who can stand up to Jokic, they need more than one type of answer. The best profile seems to blend bulk with defensive feel, giving the team a way to handle Jokic - and, by extension, the rest of the league - from different angles.
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