
I’m talking about who I want on my team to win a championship right now. Past accolades are irrelevant to the discussion. Obviously Jokic is ahead of the likes of Luka and Wemby in terms of resume for all time rankings, but that isn’t the discussion we’re having. The only thing relevant to the discussion is the value that they provide towards championship contention right now, and I think there are 4 players in the NBA that would be better than Jokic for that purpose
I would take Giannis assuming health, but if you’re factoring that in, then I think it’s reasonable to take Jokic still. Luka is the hardest one for me, but the reason I’d go with him is primarily because I think it is easier to defensively compensate for Luka given that he plays the 1, while Jokic occupies the 5.
Even if in a vacuum Jokic is a better defender, occupying the most defensive position on the floor while being a terrible rim protector is harder to overcome than having a below average defensive point guard. Let’s illustrate it this way. Take the thunder defense, and in 1 scenario, put Luka in replacing Shai as the 1, and in the other, put Jokic in replacing Hart at the 5. Which hurts the Thunder defense more? I’d argue that Jokic would hurt them more.