Austin Rivers thinks Nikola Jokic is the best player in the NBA, but believes Karl-Anthony Towns is more skilled than him. On the latest episode of the Offguard Podcast, Rivers stated Towns might be the most skilled center in the league, which led to an interesting debate with his co-host Pausha Haghighi.
Austin Rivers: “He’s (Towns) extremely talented as a basketball player. Probably the most skilled center in the NBA. He’s probably the most skilled center in the NBA.”
Pausha Haghighi: “Well, Jokic is the most skilled center in the NBA.”
Rivers: “I don’t think so.”
Haghighi: “But how so? He picks apart every team he plays against.”
Rivers: “That’s because he has the highest IQ.”
Haghighi: “But he also can shoot too. He can do everything.”
Rivers: “He can’t shoot like Karl.”
Haghighi: “He can’t shoot like Karl but he can shoot.”
Rivers: “No, they’re not even in the same realm of shooting.”
Haghighi: “Karl can’t pass the way Jokic (can). Best passer in the NBA.”
Rivers: “I didn’t say he’s better than Nikola.”
Haghighi: “Well, passing is a skill.”
Rivers: “That’s one skill. What else is he better at?”
Haghighi: “So, you’re gonna go ahead and say this right now-“
Rivers: “Brother, if you talk about offensive package… Karl is a better scorer in almost every attribute of the game over Nikola.”
Haghighi: “Jokic can shoot. When he gets under the basket, you seen him in overtime against the Nets?
Rivers: “He’s an average shooter.”
Haghighi: “He’s not. I mean-“
Rivers: “Yes he is. He’s an average three-point shooter. He’s not a good three-point shooter.
Haghighi: “So, that’s going to be the headline that you think Karl-Anthony Towns is more skilled than Jokic.”
Rivers: “I didn’t say he’s a better player. That’s not even up for debate. I already said Nikola is the best player in the NBA… If we’re talking about offensive skill set, offensive skill set, shut up, if we talking about player skill set-“
Haghighi: “All Karl does better than him is shoot.”
Rivers: “No man, he can score better than him. If I told them both to go out and score as many points that night, Karl could score more than… What does Nikola do better than him other than pass?”
Rivers stated that the only reason Jokic has averaged more points than Towns in recent seasons was because the latter played with Anthony Edwards and had to take a backseat. The problem with that argument, though, is that he wasn’t putting up crazy scoring numbers before Edwards’ emergence as a star either.
Towns has averaged over 26.0 points per game in just one season in his career. Jokic, meanwhile, has done it in three of the last four seasons and looks set to do it once again in 2024-25.
I am certainly with Haghighi when it comes to this debate. The only aspect of the game in which Towns is clearly better than Jokic is three-point shooting. You might give him the edge when it comes to defense too, but that’s it.
Jokic is a better scorer, passer, and rebounder than Towns. That becomes clear when we just compare their numbers from the start of last season.
Jokic’s stats since the start of last season: 26.6 points, 12.4 rebounds, 9.0 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.9 blocks per game
Towns’ stats since the start of last season: 21.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 0.7 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game
Jokic has shot better from the field in that time (58.1% to 50.7%) while Towns has shot better from three (42.7% to 38.4%). That’s about the only area where he’s got the better of the three-time MVP, which pretty much backs up Haghighi’s points. Towns is a great player and is very skilled, but Jokic is in a different league from him.
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