2. The Los Angeles Lakers have the tools to limit Nikola Jokic
A fan of the Denver Nuggets could talk themselves into beating the Los Angeles Lakers in a playoff series. If LeBron James and Anthony Davis are still not 100%, the role players get cold and Nikola Jokic has a career-defining series then it could happen.
Those odds are slim, but this is the team that came back from a 3-1 deficit against the Los Angeles Clippers last season. If I have learned one thing, it is not to doubt Nikola Jokic’s abilities.
That being said, the Lakers have the tools to limit Jokic from having this career-defining series that would make it competitive. Andre Drummond is the key here. He is another big body that defends the rim that the Lakers can throw at Jokic and get him flustered. Dwight Howard did that so perfectly for the Lakers last year.
This was a terrifying matchup before the Lakers got Drummond. Marc Gasol can only play 20 minutes max and that would leave a significant amount of time where Jokic could expose Montrezl Harrell. We all saw what happened to the Clippers last year when that was the case.
Signing Drumond allows the team to always have one good defensive center on the floor to limit Jokic. Are they going to stop Jokic from having a good series? Probably not, he is going to be the league MVP for a reason.
But can they stop him from completely taking over the game and exploiting a massive mismatch? Absolutely.