Nikola Jokic did not need much time to explain the obvious part of what DeMar DeRozan brings to the Denver Nuggets.
Scoring? Everybody knows about that.
But when Jokic discussed Denver’s newest six-time All-Star at Nuggets media day on September 28, he quickly moved to another part of DeRozan’s game that could prove more important to Denver than another 18 points per night.
“I think, of course, we know he’s a top 20, right? Isn’t he? Top 25? Top 20? So he can score the ball, that’s one thing,” Jokic said. “I think he’s an underrated passer.”
Jokic undersold DeRozan’s place on the scoring list by only a little. The 37-year-old enters his first season in Denver ranked 16th in NBA history with 26,711 points. He averaged 18.4 points in 77 games for Sacramento last season.
The passing comment is where things get more interesting.
– Nikola Jokic on DeMar DeRozan 🃏🗣️
Nikola Jokic Thinks DeMar DeRozan Can Add to Nuggets’ System
Jokic did not frame DeRozan as a veteran who simply needs to adjust to the way Denver already plays.
He left room for the opposite.
“I think we’re going to find a way — I don’t want to say make him better, because he’s already great,” Jokic said. “I think he’s maybe going to love to play with us and play our style of basketball. And maybe he’s going to figure out how he can help us and how he can bring some new ideas to our little system that we have.”
That last piece matters.
Denver already owns one of the NBA’s most established offensive identities because virtually everything can run through Jokic. NBA.com noted that the Nuggets have finished among the league’s top seven offenses for 10 consecutive seasons.
DeRozan gives them a different kind of creator.
He does much of his damage inside the arc, can manufacture a shot late in the clock and has spent significant stretches of his career functioning as a playmaker rather than merely a scorer. During his final season in San Antonio, DeRozan averaged a career-high 6.9 assists, ranking 11th in the NBA.
That history backs up Jokic’s description.
DeRozan’s Passing Could Matter Most With Jokic Off the Floor
The Nuggets did not sign DeRozan to recreate his Toronto or Chicago usage.
Denver Gazette reporter Vinny Benedetto projected him as a key reserve after the signing, noting that DeRozan had started 1,252 of his first 1,264 NBA games entering this season. More recently, Benedetto reported that coach David Adelman plans to put the ball in DeRozan’s hands frequently with the second unit.
That makes Jokic’s passing comment especially relevant.
DeRozan averaged 4.1 assists last season despite spending most of the year alongside other Sacramento creators. He now has a path to become one of Denver’s primary offensive organizers whenever Jokic or Jamal Murray sits.
The fit will not be seamless. DeRozan remains a low-volume 3-point shooter, and NBA.com identified his potential sixth-man transition as one of Denver’s central preseason questions.
Jokic also used media day to address his own future in Denver. After declining to sign an extension this offseason, he said he expects to sign with the Nuggets next year.
“I’m going to sign next year,” Jokic said, before adding, “if they want me.”
Jokic had already said in July that his plan was to sign next summer and remain in Denver for the rest of his career. Waiting until 2027 gives him access to a substantially larger long-term deal than the extension available to him this year.
But Jokic was not talking about fitting another scorer into a finished product.
He was talking about letting DeRozan change the product.
For an offense that has spent years asking what happens when Jokic rests, that distinction could become one of Denver’s more consequential experiments this season.
Nuggets Star Nikola Jokic Sends Strong Message On New 26,000-Point Scorer