The lowest MVP in the draft, can Jokic "slap" doubters in the face in the new season?

I think so. The Nuggets are in good overall shape now. In the 2020-21 season, Nikola Jokic received 91 out of 100 MVP first-place votes and was elected with an absolute advantage. He also became the MVP with the lowest draft pick in NBA history. However, in the offseason's strength rankings, Jokic has been neglected. Few people rank him in the top three. There is even controversy over whether he is the league's number one center. In the inherent impression of many people, Jokic has mediocre physical fitness, average attitude and ability, low upper limit, and is a bit too old. This Nuggets don't seem to have a championship look, and Jokic seems to have always been in the range of not being taken seriously.

In addition, there may be another reason why Jokic is not taken seriously. In the 2019-20 season, the Nuggets led by Jokic lost to the Suns in the Western Conference semifinals and were swept in four consecutive games. Out, this result is unacceptable to the Nuggets in any case. Even though Jokic's statistics in the playoffs have improved to 29.8 points, 11.6 rebounds, and 5 assists, he has been the player with the highest efficiency value in the playoffs for two consecutive seasons. But after Murray fell, his teammates never had more than 20 points of firepower, which fully shows. This also fully shows that criticizing Jokic is the most unreasonable. On the contrary, this team has given him too little help.

In the offseason, the Nuggets took action in a "dramatic" manner. They used most of their guaranteed five-year super maximum salary to renew the contract of small forward Michael Porter Jr. with a four-year contract extension of 92 million. The Nuggets spent a lot of money to keep Aaron Gordon, Patton signed a two-year, 32 million contract extension, and JaMychal Green, who also retained Jr. Rivers and added Jeff Green to a two-year, 15 million contract extension. This also represents their confidence in the team led by Jokic.

People seem to ignore the fact that Jokic is only twenty-five years old. Murray, Porter Jr., and Gordon are all on the rise. Because they have already won the MVP, Jokic and the Nuggets led by him will inevitably have higher expectations. They are now a championship team. Personal data has reached the extreme, Jokic can only lead the team to a breakthrough, hoping to have an outstanding performance in the new season.