The Denver Nuggets' ‘transition’ season was earmarked for developing a young talent into a foundational piece. To Denver’s delight, that’s exactly what happened. It just hasn’t been the player any of us of expected.

Emmanuel Mudiay and Jusuf Nurkic were supposed to be the candidates to headline the Nuggets' next era of competitive basketball. Mudiay was drafted seventh overall in 2015 while Nurkic went 16th overall in 2014 and had an impressive rookie season.

But Mudiay struggled mightily before being sidelined by an injury (he’s been much better since returning) and Nurkic never seemed to find his footing after health issues delayed the start of his sophomore campaign. Those two outcomes could have made for a rather depressing season if it weren’t for the emergence of an unheralded second round pick -- Nikola Jokic.

When Jokic signed a four-year deal after a relatively non-descript summer league, it rightfully flew under the radar (though props to the Denver Stiffs for noting his potential way back in July). It looked on the surface as though the young Serbian center would just be another body in a crowded Nuggets' frontcourt full of international flavor. Thanks to a skill set perfectly suited for today’s NBA, Jokic has earned consistent minutes, along with 45 starts, on a surprisingly competitive Denver team.

Perhaps in no other era of the sport has the art of passing been more important for big man in basketball. The shift from illegal defense to defensive 3-seconds has brought a myriad of (well-documented) changes to the overall style of play. Pick-and-rolls are more prevalent than post-ups, help schemes are more complicated than ever and to combat these defenses, coaches have built more offensive systems based upon side-to-side ball movement keyed by their bigs.

Jokic has the passing chops to not only survive, but thrive in this setting, as evidenced by the fact that the rookie big is currently fifth in assist percentage (min. 1,000 minutes, 6-10 or taller) behind the likes of Blake Griffin, the Gasol brothers and a Greek, basketball destroying machine in Milwaukee, per Basketball Reference data. That’s pretty impressive company. Even more impressive than that, however, is is the way Jokic racks up his dimes -- which is every way.

Jokic can hit cutters out of the post whether he’s mid move….

...or patiently surveying the floor before even beginning his backdown.

In pick-and-roll settings, Jokic can make tough, close-quarters passes to another big…

….or sling it to an open shooter on the perimeter without having to slow down and read the defense.

These passes are all extremely helpful to crafting hugely efficient offense. After all, in pretty much every case, they are trading off a mid-range shot for either a dunk/layup or open shot from 3. It’s a statistician's (and really, a winning basketball person’s) dream.

Yet the league tends to catch up quickly to players that are one-trick ponies. So Jokic’s passing ability, while rare and effective, wouldn’t mean much if he wasn’t a threat to score from those same spots. And while he still needs improvement in certain areas, Jokic does enough in that regard that defenses haven’t just played him for the pass and watched possessions involving him whither into a series of late shot-clock heaves.

This is especially true in the post. Jokic does a great job keeping things simple. While his biggest struggle is trying to maintain or gain position against players with more strength and bulk, Jokic possess a good feel for how the defender is playing him. He then rather methodically sets himself up to primarily get to one of two shots with his right hand; a jump hook….

….or spin counter to an inside-hand finish.

It’s not the Hakeem Olajuwon-esque repertoire we’ve been conditioned to think all post players need, but it’s been effective enough that Jokic averages .951 points per possession on his post ups, per Synergy data -- a number that could climb if Jokic’s strength-base improves. That in itself isn’t a world-beating number, but it’s a sign of a player good enough that opposing coaches can’t feel totally comfortable leaving Jokic to go to work on his man while four help defenders stayed glued to his teammates.

Pick-and-rolls operate roughly in the same vain. In Denver, Jokic typically sets a screen and half-rolls toward the free throw line, mostly because of the fact his frontcourt partner is often taking up space near the rim. On any given catch, Jokic has typically has three options: pass (as we’ve seen above), shoot/drive or swing it and follow with another pick-and-roll.

The middle option is the one that Jokic needs to focus his improvement on. While his mid-range jumper is already a threat, Jokic tends to struggle when having to put the ball on the floor and try to finish at the rim under duress:

It’s a minor quibble in what has been a very encouraging rookie season, but it’s something to keep an eye with Jokic moving forward. And speaking of the future, what is even more exciting for the Nuggets are the difficult questions the team now faces because of the emergence of their young, Serbian big man -- those dilemmas typically filed under the title of  “good problems to have.”  

The big question is how the team will fill out their frontcourt around Jokic. In the 1990s, a frontcourt of Nuric and Jokic could have worked well, but in today’s era it’s impossible to justify and the Nuggets have barely even tried playing those two together. It’s probably safe to say that the Kenneth Faried-Jokic duo is destined for mediocrity as well, a claim rooted in the fact that the team has basically broke even (+0.5 per 48) in the 618 minutes those two have shared the floor this season, per NBA.com.

The best option to pair with Jokic so far has, not surprisingly, been veteran Darrell Arthur. Arthur’s shooting range, general offensive versatility and ability to hang with opposing power forwards defensively has allowed him to form quite the partnership with Jokic. It’s a small sample size with a lot of noise, but in 582 minutes the Nuggets have trotted out the Arthur-Jokic frontline, they’ve whipped opponents by 8.0 points per 48.

It’s not hard to see that number affecting Denver’s decision-making when it comes to the free-agent-to-be Arthur this summer. Unless the team feels like shifting the often-absent Danilo Gallinari to a full-time 4 can unlock the same type of results. And both those scenarios likely spell the end of Faried’s time in the Mile High City.

Though questions like this seem daunting, they also represent a key sign of progress for a Nuggets' team that was in a bit of disarray. After all, it’s much more fun to figure out how to fit players around a foundational piece, than guess who is going to emerge as one. Because with the play of Nikola Jokic this season, Denver already has the answer to the latter.