The Denver Nuggets are about to be without their franchise centerpiece for a while. Center Nikola Jokic tweaked his knee in a loss to the Miami Heat on Monday and did not return. A Tuesday MRI revealed that he’ll miss a month or more with the injury to the
That will deal a major blow to the third-best team in the Western Conference, currently at 22-10, as its do-it-all big man makes everything go, currently averaging a triple-double this season.
It will likely take several players to replace Jokic’s sky-high production, as he's setting career-high marks once again in 2025.
Below, we’ll provide a Nikola Jokic injury update, how much time Jokic will miss, and go over what Nuggets players could get stat boosts while he’s gone due to the injury for PrizePicks NBA.
Nikola Jokic Injury Update: How Long Is Jokic Out?
Jokic has avoided a major injury to his knee, but he was diagnosed with a hyperextended left knee after his MRI on Tuesday. He will miss at least four weeks before being reevaluated.
Jokic hasn’t missed any games this season, so it’s difficult to foresee who will assume which parts of his responsibilities, especially with four of the Nuggets’ five starters hurt. PG Jamal Murray is the only actual starter available, while the rest of the roster is dealing with injury.
Denver made a much-needed backup big man signing over the offseason in Jonas Valanciunas, and that could prove to be extremely helpful in January with Embiid sidelined.
How Does Nikola Jokic’s Injury Impact the Nuggets?
Jokic is still setting new career-high marks every season. The three-time MVP is matching his career-high of 29.6 points per game from last year while setting new ones in 3-point shooting percentage (43.5%) and rebounds per game (11.0). He leads the NBA with 16 triple-doubles, and no player at any position has half as many so far in 2025-26.
It's going to take several players to replace Jokic’s sky-high production across the board.
Jokic is the offensive engine that powers the NBA’s highest-scoring offense. The Nuggets are averaging a league-high 125.7 points per game. They lead the league in field goal percentage (51.3%) and 3-point percentage (40.6%). The Nuggets also rank third in assists per game (29.7).
All those figures are sure to drop without Jokic’s uber-efficient shooting and timely playmaking.
PG Jamal Murray will clearly be the player who’ll have to step it up as a passer; in terms of scoring, five of the seven players who averaged more than 10.0 points without Jokic last season are still in Denver.
Murray is averaging a career-high 7.0 assists per game this season after averaging roughly 6.0 dimes per contest last season whether Jokic was healthy or not. Replacing his rebounding is another thing, though.
C Jonas Valanciunas was once a walking double-double and can step into a starting role during Jokic’s recovery. He’s averaging 24.0 points and 13.2 rebounds per 75 possessions this season, per databallr. Both those figures are in the 85th percentile or better.
In fact, Valanciunas has hauled 78 rebounds in just 239 minutes without Jokic on the floor this season, per Add More Funds. That’s more than 3.0 boards per minute.
The Nuggets don’t have a true replacement for Jokic, but do appear to have enough serviceable players to stay afloat without the most complete offensive player in the game.
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Nikola Jokic will miss about a month for the Denver Nuggets, and the team will have to use several players to replace his MVP-level production.
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