The Deep 3 Podcast - We Need To Talk About Nikola Jokic | TD3 Clips

Episode Date: April 27, 2026

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Nobody in the NBA right now should be panicking more than Nicole Yokish and the Denver Nuggets. Nuggets versus Timberwolves, which one of these teams should panic? Let's talk about what we've seen. And I say that, let's talk about what we've seen. It's time for some Nicole Yokis Lander. Whoa, coming from you? It's time to be fucking honest. This is his 2011 Mab Series in terms of bronze career. Okay. This is a disastrous performance from Nicole Yokic.

This is the first blight in his career, probably. I agree with you. It's the second blight in a row, but against the Oklahoma. City Thunder when he performs poorly and shoots some tour dates here and there, you understand it because he's playing the greatest defense of the modern NBA. So I don't hold anybody's performance against them against the Oklahoma City Thunder, just as a rule of thumb. If you get locked up, salute. Everybody probably should get locked up by the Thunder. You can kind of say something similar about Rudy Gobert that last year you played the best defense of your generation. Now you're playing the best defender of your generation. He's giving you fits. We can kind of

understand that, right? Sure. You can tell yourself that in terms of Nicole, which is offense and his scoring and him getting locked up in the post by Rudy Gobert, so be it. His defense is goddamn cataclysmic right now. His defense is an utter disaster. Both sides of the court, he is simply losing his matchup and is not performing anywhere near the best in the world. And I'm starting this conversation focused on Yokic because I think it's important that we acknowledge that he is not playing anything to the level of the best in the world that we've seen give Rudy Gober fits for years. But also this whole goddamn team to lose two of the Timberwolves when Anthony Edwards hyper extends his knee when Dante DiVincenzo tears his Achilles in the first quarter tragic

to get walked the fuck down by Io de Sumu who looked like he lost no production compared to Anthony Edwards on ball. This team is the epitome of Charmin fucking soft. It is ridiculous. And in some ways, they told us who they are all year. All year they told us,

we're not going to play any defense. Everybody that said thinks we're going to flip the switch and be some dominant team like we've seen in 2023 come playoff time just because we're the nuggets. Shit was naive. They are who they thought they were. They are a mediocre defense.

And when Nicole Yokic isn't playing well enough to make them have that buzzer. saw offense they had in the second half of the season, they seemed they were getting exposed by a bigger, stronger team. Again, this is easily like the most disappointing outcome right now. Even if the Nuggets come back to win, no one's going to care because the process of it was just really junkie. Talk about Nicole Yogan. She deserves all that. And also, like, I remember coming into the series, you were like, yo, like this Denver Nuggets team is not the same Denver Nuggets team that was from the years before. You know, Nicole Yogan is different. He leveled up, which is true.

Now he seems like he's leveled down in the playoffs against Ruehbert specifically. He hasn't been December. But more so, bro, Jamal Murray, what's happened? We came up here also saying this is not the same Jamal Murray from years past that Jay McDaniels has given real issues to. And, yo, Jamal Murray, this is some of the worst basketball he's playing literally all year. He's averaging like 26, chune sub like 38% from the field, tune like 25% from the three point line. If he's not going at all, I don't want to say it doesn't matter what Yokic is doing, but because I have the situation, the nuggets are in right now and how their offense is has to, been clunky and no one has been like hitting all Sunday, especially Yolkich, you don't have

anyone else to come out savior. There's no MP, Michael Porter Jr. saving you. There's no, there's no, there's none of that. Tim Hardaway Jr. has yet to have one of those games and he was like a fairly, like a really good six minute of the year candidate. Did he win it actually? Who? Sixth many year. That don't think has been announced yet. No, no, Calvin Johnson won. Oh yeah. Culkinner. You're right. You're right. You're right. Tim R. Jr. was third. But he was getting it. He was average like fucking 13, 14 a game. It was very, very dependable. And if you're dependent on Tim Hardaway Jr., you're in hell. I was very wrong about this series

This is the one series I said I was confident in We did the whole predictions episode I never felt confident in playoff series I said this is the one that I'm confident That the Nuggets will win in six Six games that's like respectable Because Timberwolves are good But I had no doubts the Nuggets would take care of them

Bro I said five You said five maybe I can't remember Maybe I said five to you It was either five or six I said I have I don't know what the marginal be But there's no part of me That doesn't believe the Nuggets are the better team Now part of that is having too much faith

In the Never Nuggets Second half of the year Or really last 20 games their offense was so goddamn good. They're coming in on a high note that I had faith in them. Even though all year I didn't have faith

their defense at all, I said they can at least take care of the Timberwolves because the main thing I was wrong about. These Minnesota Timberwolves, they do this every year and I keep falling for it.

They play mediocre as hell for the last 40 games the year. They have these weird chemistry issues, these weird identity issues where you're like, okay, surely they're going to go into the playoffs on this low note and see a great team

like Nicole Eokich's Denver Nuggets and just get blasted because they're not ready, right? They're not going into the playoffs the right mindset. I gotta realize. Chris Finch

has never been adjustment of day in his life that will impress you but if he will make these athletic motherfuckers impose their will against a mediocre soft offensive slanted team

third year in a row first time we see the first year Kevin around on Phoenix Suns the Minnesota Timberols punked the shit out of them get them out of here in five next year

we see a lucidantious LeBron James Austin Reeves Lakers team kind of clicking on a small run going into the playoffs with this finesse three ball handlers thing

kind of similar to that Sun's team, the Timberwolves punked them out their fucking shoes. Third year in a row, they go against the best offense in the league for the last 20 games, and they punked the hell out of them. This is just what the Timberwolves do, and they are immensely oppressive.

If you are not a physical team, the Timberwolves will punch you in the chin and you will fall down every time. And they will punch you in the chin because they don't respect you, and Jada McDaniels has made that abundantly clear that he does not respect anybody. He does not respect or fear Nicole Yokicchitz.

Yep. And Yolich, at this point, and we've known, it, but the, especially like for this version of the nuggets and them being, them being soft, Yolkhaj's sore loserness is at the top of it, where anytime that they're losing, they're getting blown out, he's going to snap and he's going to, he's going to run over and, and try and grab somebody and start a start a fight, which on a certain level, I guess, like, I'm going to leave it with something, but it's funny to say that. It's funny for us to say that.

It's not funny when Nicole Yolok is actually doing it, It's not funny at all. Yeah. And it's just like you had all this ferocity, all this aggressiveness in your body. Why don't you use it to get a stop? Why don't you want you to use it to get locked? The Brutica Bear has embarrassed you for four games now. It's crazy.

Sounds like you can move them puppies, man. Yeah. I don't know. And they like this 100% should not, this should not be the case. 3-1. Crazy. Down 3-1. You were the better team.

Like everything I said in the predictions episode of why I felt confident in them. I don't think was wrong. It just has not translated because they just simply have not performed, and Rudy Goberra has leveled up in terms of his ability to defend Yokic one-on-one. Maybe, to be fair, maybe part of it is Nicole Yokic dealing with that injury that has neutered his defense second half of the year. I'm sure it has some effects on his offense. We've seen the pictures that he looks fucking emaciated. It looks like he lost all those weight compared to where he was three weeks ago. I'm sure that plays a part and he's not 100%.

Doesn't matter. This is him playing at 20%. It's ridiculous. Like everything that we saw the advantages they had with how good their offense is playing, how Joel Murray has. had leveled up and we thought he wouldn't get locked up by Jamie Daniels again, I don't think any of that was wrong. They're just performing so unbelievably piss poor in just pure physicality. Like you really can't under, you can't slander them enough. Like in terms of this episode being a panic meter, 100 out of 10 panic, this is truly pitiful from a team that kind of just looks at their

championship window passing by. Yeah, literally. And at this point in time, like when it comes to, I'm not going to say when it comes to like this era and their championship windows are over necessarily, but there's so many like questions I have to be asked because oh like this team is not the youngest team at all all these guys are like literally 30 years old or push or like towards a pinnacle of that when it comes to athletic prime and then on top of that too like you have massive questions when it comes to okay fuck we just gave christian brown like 140 million dollars over the next years that's how you win the window that's how you destroy a championship window right there one individual contract that you thought was right because he had a good season in a contract year has just proven to be a bad contract, just straight up bad contract. Yeah, I agree. And we're saying all this and like, we give a lot of praise to the Timberwolves. Shout out to Chris Ventura again, these Issa Lock in or whatever. But more so, like, I think my biggest issue with the Timberwolves was seeing how

Julius Randall was playing towards the end of the year and how he's been playing in the playoffs. He's been, he's been good. But his numbers are even wildly impressive too. He's shooting like 42% from the field, 18% from three. He's not winning you this goddamn serious. Exactly. That's what I'm saying. The things we pointed to preseason. a pre-series about the Timberwolves are true. He is shooting bad. It should be a problem. And it's just not because the nuggets are that deeply unsurious.

Yeah. Crazy. The Jamal Murray stuff also is, and you mentioned it, he's played like three more minutes than Nicole Yokic. He's taking like seven more threes. Yokos is shooting 39% from the field. Jamal Murray is shooting 37%. This is disgusting brother to the max.

I mean, they have not been able to do anything. And I think for for Jamal Murray, it is, it is interesting because this is the one year where it's flipped. And it's like, you've actually been healthy for, for the most part of this year. You played your best regular season of your entire career. Everyone's like, wow, you actually, you level it up. Your playoff Jamal Murray for the entire regular season. And then you come into this playoff series, and now you're playing like regular season, Jamal Murray from years past. And there's no, there's no let up. And so when you have those two guys not performing, when you have Aaron Gordon in and out the lineup, dealing with his injury as,

as well. Paine Watson hasn't played this series. We're right back to the situation that we were in last year of this team has really six guys that you can legitimately trust to give you to give you solid minutes. And Yolkich and Murray are so dependent or the team is so dependent on them carrying everybody else up. And they're not, they're not living up to their expectations. Yokish three point shot has fallen off a cliff. And last year, Yokic is shooting like 43%?

for three and we're like, oh my gosh, he's seven one, shooting 44%. You're shooting 19% from three decisions. It's tragic. And this has happened in several playoffs series in the past couple years. And again, we can excuse it when it's OKC defense. And maybe you can excuse it to yourself when it's Rudy Gobert. The defense provides no impact. Yeah, if you're the, if you're the best in the world, am I expecting you to come out here

and have a 35 point triple double on like on record efficiency against absolutely everybody? No, I do expect there to be some type of drop off. This is worse than that. 50% true shooting. You would think that's like the biggest of red flags for Nicole Yokic, one of the most efficient players in NBA history and people are doing a lot of efficient history now

on Twitter. They're finally going to get their licks in saying he was never that great. Capably he'll put him in these conversations. No, he was that great. He's just not that great right now. This is several tiers below what we know Nicole Yokich is capable of. And maybe he's not the same anymore. If that's actually going to be a takeaway and maybe he's no longer best in a world level, okay. Sure. Maybe that's the case.

We will see. They are down 3-1. We mentioned in the beginning. We didn't spend enough time talking about it. Anthony Edwards will miss several weeks. Don't Steven Chenzo was done for this season. They might have the most unethical three-one comeback of all time.

I know. And that's fucking disgusting to me. I really hope they lose this game because they deserve it and they deserve to look in the mirror and have to make serious changes. If they come back and win this because they got gifted to them

by Anthony Edwards knee, disgusting. But so be it. That's still possible for them to come back and for Nicole Yokish to have a bounceback series in the next series, right? The story isn't 100% written.

as far as my perception goes, the shit's written. I don't even care if they come back and win. I don't care if he goes crazy against the Spurs. This is disgusting. And because of the offense and everything is struggling against Gobert, because the defense has been

O lay at the rim, like it has been all year post-injury, no defensive presence at all. Nicole Yokic's defense is the worst it's ever been. I think it's totally fair for people to say that he's no longer best in the world. We've been flirting with that for months.

Absolutely. We made a video where we were like, low-key, Shay's 1-A-1B. We're just kind of not ready to say it because Yokuch hasn't like lost his title. this is how you lose that title and how Shane becomes unanimous

and maybe when we become second. Let's keep it up being. The only reason he's in these conversations is purely because of his offense. When he's not consistent, you're done, you're cooked. I think that's the reason why IGA is still in these conversations and why I am so impressed with him

throughout this whole season is because of his consistency. When you are not that, what are you? And that's a part. Normally he is. So it's a weird thing that like, this is not normally who he is and people are getting their looks off

being like, I told you all he's overrated. Okay, fine. But this isn't normal. Like, this is a strange one-off series in which he is just getting dominated. And we've never seen that. And that's why he's kept that best in world title so firm,

because in past years he's felt like the fucking boogeyman. The way that he, they just swept LeBron and AD with ease two years ago. Like there's stuff like that they just, you walk in a series, you felt like Nicole Yokic would be that misdiscency, would destroy you in the fourth quarter.

That's why I can look here and said in a series where I think neither team can defend each other. I will always side with your, Yokic in the clutch because you've seen years where he is unfathomably consistent in the clutch. Not today. Yeah, man. It's just either has to be some hope with him.

Going back to what you said, like he looked sickly and he's lost a ton of weight or whatever. It's playing disgustingly, so he might as well be sickly too as well, bro. I think after the series happens, regardless of what happens, like, whether they win or lose, like, we should hear something about as to why he's been playing to this level and maybe, like, there's something else that hasn't been talked about just yet. But even then, like, regardless of the facts, man, like Rudy Goubert, generation, he's having a fucking

masterclass defensive series, bro. Like the Nuggets, I think they're damn near, like, number one offense in the league. And right now, I think they're playing, like, a bottom five offense in the entire league right now at this point in time. And so going back to someone else I wanted to talk about, I was like, bro, like Anthony Edwards wasn't even like

doing normal Anthony Edwards thing. Outside of Rudy Goberer, there's, and I guess Ayudu's moon, you could have said, Dante Divenzo, too, before he toured's Achilles. Like, no one's having, like one of those series at all. These guys are just like kicking their ass and they're realizing like, you know,

like we're so much faster and so much younger and so much more like spry than this old ass Denver Nuggets team. It's just sad. I will say I do want to give an apology to the Minnesota Timberlores because I did go on this podcast a couple weeks ago saying like every year

they just get worse and worse and just overcompensates. I think this series is kind of changing my tune. Like every year they just figure it out. Yeah. Like they just figure out how to be a competitive playoff team. When you roll out the ball,

they look great. Yeah, well, I would also say, I don't want to overreact too much in terms of T. Wool's glaze.

Like, I applaud them 100% for punching them in their teeth, like I said. This to me is almost more about the Nuggets falling apart. Like you said,

Ant is not efficient this series. Julie Shandall is not efficient this series. J. McDaniel is not particularly efficient. Iyo is averaging

22 on 70s, 8% true shooting. So he's just got, I guess. He's just a demon. And that's been the difference. That's it. Yeah, he's one for one.

There's an I applaud them for what I said in the beginning. If you are not a physical team, they will physically dominate you. And they have maintained that ethos over the years as their offensive castes change around them. Yeah. I can't wait to see how it looks in the next round if they make it. Actually, let me not say that. It's unfortunate they just want to ban.

So maybe it doesn't matter. I would have been curious to see how that looks in the next round where they face a team that isn't so physically frail like the nuggets have been. And I wonder if we look up and they are the timbrel as we thought they were, which like I said, is the team physically capable of dominating a team that isn't ready like the nuggets are. but I wonder if we'll just look up and say wow the Nuggets were absolutely pitiful And like maybe the Timberwolves were good and impressive Yeah

But weren't like oh my God insane The Nuggets were just that downtrodden I don't want to ask out with the reality of Ants injury and the Danty injury Would Jal still rather see the Minnesota Timberos move on Or would you rather see the Nuggets more healthy move on Um I'd have pure entertainment

I guess the Nuggets because we would get Yokin's versus Wembe in the second round And I don't want to see Julius Randall and I'll have to go up against the Spurs. But, I mean, they're up, they're up three one and they can, they can hang with, Denver, obviously. Listen, no aunt, no Dante. Are we putting something down for Rudy Gobert to score 20 tonight? What is wrong?

It's 15.1 odds. I've been thinking about it for the last five minutes. Brother put it down. Because it is like, there have been, especially last year, the Rudy had, Rudy had the crazy game against the Lakers where he had 27 and 20. He had two years ago, the wild fade away in Denver. You know that altitude is crazy. Weird things happen.

This series is already wonky. I don't expect I ought to come out here and score 40 points again. He might just because the defense is bad. But when you start thinking about the production, it's not like they're going to, it's not like they're only going to score 80 points. Like the Nuggets clearly can't stop anybody on their team. I think, is Rudy getting 20 tonight? No, I don't know what it might be.

If the Timberwolves do win this series, then I think they're in for like a Nasreid game. Because he hasn't like particularly popped off just yet. And he can give you like it. He had 17 in game in game four. It would be just out of pure entertainment and just funny, it would be hilarious. And Rudy Gober has this like generational like defensive series and is really putting a Yokic in a straight jacket. And then it's like, oh, yeah, on the way out. Do you respect Rudy Moore?

I really could have dimed you up, but I was just playing defense. Do you respect Rudy Moore after this series? Yes, I do. You think your dad does? Yes, I do. Do you think your dad does? Yes. Have you talked to him about it?

Yeah. We talked a little bit. I haven't gone super in depth on this series. Yeah. Man. But I'm sure he does. To answer your question, it'd be more entertaining.

See the Nuggets the next round, obviously because the Timber Bowls aren't whole. But I very much hope the Nuggets lose tonight and get out of here in the gentleman's sweep just because they absolutely deserve to go outside because they have for four straight games. And again, I will be sick to my stomach if they have this three won't come back handed to them.

It will be, in no exaggeration, the least respectable 3-1 comeback in the history of the NBA. It'll be, it'll look you sick to my stomach. That's so tough. Yeah, I agree. I feel it. And no, it's great looking back. Like, the amount of, like, it's tough because on one hand, I understand why everyone

has so much faith in the Nuggets because, again, had who was perceived to be the best player in the world, who has, outside of being locked up by the Thunder, never really failed in the playoffs as far as his production goes. He has been consistent. Lost series, of course, and the team's over man, but he's performed at his level, in which we say that's the best point in the world pretty much since he entered his prime, right? Aside of that and the trust that he gets,

people were doing a lot for Tim Hardaway Jr. And Jonas found Junis editions. Best supporting castes ever had. Also, Payne Watson's Hurd. Maybe that's a big part of it. So much faith was given to them when they were so bad defensively for the whole second half of the season

that I came up here and I said, I'm pretty sure that the champion will be one of the Thunder, Spurs, or Celtics, maintain that, that all the teams in the second tier, like the nuggets, like the pistons, whoever else you went throwing there, to me, had like a very small chance

of actually winning the championship because they're flaws. But man, we allowed, not we, everybody else, whoever else had strong opinions about the Nuggets being championship contenders. A lot of people still said they were their favorites, had a lot of faith in Nicole Yolkich

to make up for all those weaknesses defensively. Which, it's kind of fair. It is until it isn't. Yeah, it's kind of fair. And even if he wasn't, if Yolkech wasn't this bad, the series would be 2-2. Right?

They could get a game if he would. was 10% better. But because he's playing offensively at the, at the worst we've ever seen him since he's been Yokic, that puts everything else on the back where nothing else falls into place. They've won series where the defense hasn't been amazing. They've won series where Jamal Murray wasn't that guy. They've won series where their shooters have not been shooters.

And it's because Nicole Yokic has been that guy. Yeah. So it's obviously we're looking at it right now. It's like, oh yeah, we should have known. We should have seen it. And we should have taken the, the, the, the, that was given to us 25 games prior. But also, this is kind of what happens when you have the best player in the world,

somebody that people are already saying, yeah, that's the top 15 player of all time. Yeah. I think both are true, that we should have paid more credence to it. And I don't know what I was saying we, like, we weren't like Nuggets and were the championship. Some people were. So not even necessarily speaking about us, I think we talked a good amount about the Nuggets defense being so bad and being such a debilitating factor when they faced the real contenders. It just ended up being a debilitating factor against the Timberwolves, which we didn't see.

we thought they had a little bit higher a floor. But it is an understandable bias. Like you're going to give Nikolaukshack credit until he shows you you shouldn't give him anymore. So it's not crazy to let him mask everything. But now we see the limitations of that, that not everybody stays completely infallible for forever. Yeah.

Yeah. That's why he had that pressure on him too. Is Shay the best one in the world? Yes. No debate? Right now, no. Yeah. I would have, fair.

Yeah, I think I would have taken Shay as best in the world when we had the conversation. because he was already on on track. And listen, the stuff he's doing in the series. And I don't want to get too ahead of myself because at the end of the day, it is the Phoenix Suns. And like, they are much better. But, yo, the stuff he's doing is ridiculous.