Why Nikola Jokic, Nuggets are among NBA’s biggest disappointments ahead of Raptors game

Jokic and Canadian Jamal Murray are playing way too many minutes for depleted squad.

Published Nov 03, 2026  •  3 minute read

Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets plays the New Orleans Pelicans during the third quarter at Ball Arena on Oct. 24, 2026. Getty Images

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Two teams that entered this NBA season with pseudo-contender status but are off to middling starts will meet in an intriguing Wednesday night matchup.

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The Raptors continue a tough trip in Denver against a Nuggets side that has not only underachieved, but annoyed parts of its fanbase and given most pundits multiple reasons to believe their title window has closed.

While centre Nikola Jokic remains elite, he’s not longer performing at an MVP level, or just shy of that lofty range.

He’s averaging his fewest points (22) since 2019-20, shooting about 10% worse than usual from the field, with assist and rebound per game averages way down despite his minutes being higher than ever before. Jokic has been either MVP or runner-up in each of the past six seasons, one of the most remarkable runs in NBA history and has led in value over replacement player each of those years.

In these early days of this campaign, he’s being doubled in that category by Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic. It’s a testament to Jokic’s immense talent that, even at about 80% of his usual production, he’s still an all-NBA calibre player. But something has clearly been off.

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Meanwhile, Jokic’s Raptors counterpart, fellow NBA Finals MVP award winner Kawhi Leonard — who is coming off a year where he was about the fifth-best player in the league — has barely been active at all for Toronto and remains sidelined with an update coming Tuesday or Wednesday.

What has gone wrong for Denver?

The Nuggets franchise has had a reputation for being cheap for some time now. It was a main driver in Masai Ujiri being allowed to leave for Toronto years ago despite being named NBA executive of the year just prior.

Critics have charged they haven’t properly built around Jokic and Canadian all-star guard Jamal Murray, partly because ownership didn’t want to spend what it took to do so.

Most recently they lost emerging wing Peyton Watson to Cleveland. They previously dealt Michael Porter Jr., a key piece of their championship team, for Cameron Johnson, but he underachieved in an injury-plagued first year and is hurt again fresh off returning from a three-game absence from a previous injury.

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As a result, Jokic is playing too much and Murray — the Kitchener, Ont., native who has a long injury history — entered Tuesday leading the league in minutes played, a recipe for disaster.

Raptors legend DeMar DeRozan comes off the bench to provide some scoring, but at 37 is clearly in decline, averaging just 10.7 points so far — his lowest since his rookie season, which was so long ago that Chris Bosh was still a Raptor.

Rookie big man Trevon Brazile has been a rare pleasant surprise for the Nuggets, who rank just 23rd defensively and 15th on offence (they were first on offence a year ago).

Scottie Barnes is battling

The aforementioned Jokic should be salivating at the thought of getting a chance to get back on track against the tiny Raptors.

Jakob Poeltl, the team’s only 7-footer, missed the two games in Los Angeles due to injury and, though he could return Wednesday, if he doesn’t it will put the team in a familiar predicament.

Collin Murray-Boyles is too short to have an advantage against a behemoth like Jokic. Trayce Jackson-Davis gives up several inches and 30-40 pounds to the Serbian giant, and while Barnes has bothered him in the past, it would be unwise to give him the assignment again.

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Almost two years to the day of the game, Barnes was asked to guard against Jokic, then the clear best player in the world, and did a decent job while nearly notching a triple-double in an eventual overtime loss, before Jokic elbowed him in the face, breaking an orbital bone.

Barnes was guarding Jokic late in a close game because Poeltl had played 41 minutes and is a liability at the free-throw line. Barnes would miss the next 11 games, all but two Raptors losses, effectively ending that season before it had really begun.

Barnes comes into Wednesday already banged up. He wasn’t a lock to even face the Clippers, but gutted it out.

He didn’t look like himself through three quarters, moving slower and more gingerly than normal, but managed to somehow take over in the decisive fourth quarter to lead the Raptors to a much-needed victory.

@WolstatSun

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