Someone please get Nuggets Nikola Jokic some help on defense

The kids in the GTW offices want for New Years what Santa didn’t bring us for Christmas: shooters to play with Nikola Jokic. A few, now that you mention it.

Meanwhile, we’re digging the idea of ​​exchanging for Bulls sniper Zach LaVinehe also only theoretically solves about half of this team’s problems on the perimeter right now.

Because it’s not just that the Nuggets don’t shoot 3s and don’t care. It’s something other NBA offenses are still doing — and Denver has no earthly clue how to stop them when it starts raining triples left and right.

Shock: Nuggets and Jokic still need 3-and-D guys. Instead of players like Bruce Brown and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope creating a 94-foot difference one way or another, Denver’s current rotation sometimes gets treys from Christian Brown and defensive stops from Julian Strother.

A starting lineup with Jokic, Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. needs at least two blocking guards at any given time or it’s one long throwback to the Paul Westhead era and everyone already knows how that story ended. You’re definitely not going to win many playoff series if you have to beat people four games out of seven.

What’s maddening is that the Nuggets have already shown us how it can and should work, and has worked with clinical, exquisite precision. Aaron Gordon, when he’s healthy, is one of those 94-foot guys, but he’s broken. Jokic is one of the best offensive centers in NBA history and the best big man to ever play the game. But since he’s not a rim protector, it’s best to complement the Joker with fender protectors and perimeter stoppers, or the lay line could snap at any minute. You shut down the puck before it gets to the paint.