Nikola Jokic has made his preference clear: he wants to be out there every night.
After a season in which injuries hit the Denver Nuggets hard and Jokic himself missed 17 games, the three-time MVP said on the Jao Mile podcast that his goal is to play all 82 games this year. The stretch away from the court was the longest injury absence of his career, with Jokic missing nearly all of January and sitting out 16 straight games.
“Maybe I'm proud of that. My wish is to play every game.
I played one season of 82 games. Maybe it shouldn't be like that, maybe you need to rest a little.
But I think that when you're in a certain rhythm, the game comes to you normally, and in a way you even enjoy it. Even when I was injured, when I was absent from the court for a long time for the first time, I was nervous.
I can say that I was really nervous, maybe for the first time in my life,” Jokic said (translated by Mozzart Sport).
There is one wrinkle in that statement: Jokic said he played one 82-game season, but the most he has actually played in a year is 80 games, and that has happened twice. He may have been referring to the 72-game 2020-21 season, when he appeared in every game and won his first MVP award. He has never played all 82 games in a season.
That distinction matters, because it underscores just how difficult Jokic’s wish really is. Even for a player who usually avoids major injury trouble, getting through a full 82-game schedule is a different kind of grind.
And while the idea sounds admirable, Denver probably does not want to test it.
The Nuggets were already dealing with a long list of absences last season. Aaron Gordon missed 46 games, Christian Braun missed 38, and Peyton Watson and Cameron Johnson each missed 28. Jokic’s own time out of the lineup only added to the problem, and the team would almost certainly be better served by preserving him for the stretch that matters most.
Jokic is the engine that makes Denver go. If he is worn down or not at full strength in the playoffs, the margin for error disappears. The Nuggets are already chasing teams like the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder, and their path back out of the Western Conference depends on being healthy when it counts.
So even if Jokic wants to chase a perfect attendance season, the smarter play may be something a little less glamorous: enough rest to keep him fresh for the postseason.
In Other News...
Nuggets Just Added A Rookie Fighting For A Real Rotation Shot
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Bryce Hopkins is now part of that mix, giving Denver another young player to monitor as the team sorts out its rotation and developmental pipeline. The two-way contract means he can be around the Nuggets while also spending time with the Grand Rapids Gold, which gives the organization flexibility and gives Hopkins a real runway to make a case for more than just a spot on the fringes. For a team with postseason expectations, those back-end minutes can matter more than they first appear. [Read more 🡒]
Nuggets Still Face One Big Bench Question After A Shaky Offseason
The Nuggets spent the offseason trying to patch up a second unit that took some real hits, with Watson, Hardaway Jr. and Brown all gone from a bench group that had been a useful part of the rotation. In response, Denver brought in Marvin Bagley III and DeMar DeRozan and used the draft to add Trevon Brazile, betting that a mix of size, experience and versatility can help stabilize the minutes when the starters sit.
The idea is clear enough: the Nuggets wanted more ways to survive the non-Jokic stretches and enough pop to keep pressure on opponents even when the rotation turns over. But the bigger question around this group is whether the new pieces can actually solve the one issue that has lingered through the offseason, because Denver still needs at least one of these additions to become a reliable answer rather than just another flyer on a roster looking for dependable bench production. [Read more 🡒]
Nuggets Salary Cap Delay Could Cost Denver More Than Expected
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What makes the situation trickier is the draft-pick math. Denver has only a limited number of first-rounders it can move, so cleaning up the cap sheet may require parting with more future draft capital just to get under the line. The Nuggets have seen this kind of bookkeeping before, and other teams around the league have used the same approach, but the real question now is how much long-term flexibility Denver is willing to sacrifice to avoid the harsher penalties waiting on the other side. [Read more 🡒]