NBA Player Rankings: Using advanced stats to rank top 5 playmakers

1. Nikola Jokic

Nikola Jokic had a dominant season this year, averaging around 25 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists per game on 70.1% true shooting as he led the Denver Nuggets to their first championship in franchise history. His performance during the regular season and the playoffs cemented his spot as the best player in the league and one of the best offensive players of all time.

Jokic’s productivity as a passer was ridiculous last season, as he ranked second in the league in assist rate with a mark of 46.6%. This level of passing is remarkable for a big man, as Jokic is the only center in NBA history to have an assist rate of at least 45% in a single season.

There are better metrics for measuring a player’s playmaking than using assists, though, like passer rating and box creation. Passer rating is a measure of a player’s passing proficiency on a scale of 1-10, and box creation is an estimate of how many shots a player creates per 100 possessions.

Last season, Nikola Jokic ranked first in the league in passer rating and sixth in box creation, meaning he was remarkably efficient as a passer, and he was elite at creating advantages and generating open shots for his teammates. He also ranked second in BBall Index’s playmaking talent metric, which uses a ton of metrics like passing creation volume, passing efficiency, and scoring gravity to measure a player’s playmaking ability.

Nikola Jokic is such a unique offensive player, and you could make an excellent case that he is one of the best playmakers of all time. He’s definitely the best passer of any center we’ve ever seen, and he is capable of generating easy shots for his teammates in both the regular season and the playoffs. His resilience in the playoffs is a big reason why he sits at the top of this list.

The biggest reason why he claimed the number one spot, though, is because his offensive skillset is extremely portable. This means you could put him in a different offensive system where he’s surrounded by other talented players, and he would still thrive because he isn’t ball-dominant, and he has a lot of skills that make him incredibly dangerous without the ball in his hands. The same can’t be said for other players on this list.

Nikola Jokic is like a cyborg who was specifically designed to be an offensive genius. Watching him run an offense is like watching a brilliant painter create the most beautiful piece of artwork you’ve ever seen.