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The Denver Nuggets, as they have done for several years now, relied very heavily on Nikola Jokic this past season, and head coach David Adelman is fully aware of that.
Jokic, who has won three of the last five NBA MVPs, has been the center of the Nuggets' offense, in particular, for the better part of a decade. However, this past season, he proved to be even more integral to the team, which meant an increased workload for the big man.
In 2024-25, Jokic's playing time reached a new career-high mark; he averaged 36.7 minutes per game, fourth-highest in the NBA and more than two minutes more on average than any other season in his career. The year before, 2023-24, he tied his career-high in minutes that he set back in 2020-21, signaling how much the Nuggets often need Jokic on the floor.
While Jokic's minutes aren't going to decrease in a major way anytime soon, Adelman addressed whether Denver will have an upper limit of sorts to prevent Jokic from becoming overworked.
“We know that one of the most important things we have to do next season is take care of him, and make sure that he is the best version of himself if we’re lucky enough to get to that playoff spot. So yeah, it’s a concern. But it needs to be talked about. It needs to be done the right way. That’s what we’re gonna do,” Adelman said, via the Denver Post's Bennett Durando.
It will be tough for Adelman, who had his interim label removed following the playoffs, to stick to a plan that dictates Jokic is on the court much less, though. This past year, like many seasons recently, Jokic was one of the best players in the league, averaging a triple-double (29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds, 10.2 assists) and oftentimes picking up the slack with teammates injured or performing inconsistently.
There is some hope, however, that the Nuggets' offseason additions will suitably support the Serbian star. This summer, the Nuggets traded for Cam Johnson and Jonas Valanciunas, in addition to signing Bruce Brown and Tim Hardaway Jr., bolstering the depth of a roster that had shrunken to six or seven players in the playoffs.
