Nuggets' Malone: Jokic's standout season 'a big surprise'
The Denver Nuggets were full of surprises this past season.
For head coach Michael Malone, who was hired ahead of the campaign, the biggest and best surprise was the emergence of a rookie - and it wasn't the one the team had just drafted in the lottery.
"Bottom line, if I sat here today and told you a year ago that I expected Nikola Jokic to be first-team All-Rookie," Malone said while trailing off laughing, according to Mike Olson of Denver Stiffs.
The Nuggets drafted the Serbian 41st overall in 2014, and he came over for the 2015-16 season. Even after watching him in summer league, nobody expected him to perform as well as he has - at least not so soon.
"I laugh, and I have no problem making fun of myself, it literally took Nikola Jokic scoring 26 points and having 13 rebounds, whatever it was (23 and 12, actually) at San Antonio for me to finally say, 'Geez, I have to play this guy more!'" Malone recalled.
The 21-year-old averaged 10 points, seven boards, 2.4 assists, and one steal in just under 22 minutes per contest. He made the All-Rookie first team, played in the Rising Stars Challenge in Toronto, and finished third in Rookie of the Year voting.
"That was a big surprise," the coach admitted. "Not that we didn't think or know that he would be a good player, but it happened a lot sooner than anybody in the organization expected, even Nikola, if you asked him."
He continued: "It's a testament to him. After Summer League, he dedicated himself to losing weight and getting in better shape. He lost close to 30 pounds and worked and worked and worked."
Related: Malone wouldn't trade Jokic 'for anyone in the world'
Malone hopes his squad can improve - especially at the defensive end, where it ranked in the bottom third of the league - in his second year at the helm. He plans to focus on player development, as his group was already the seventh youngest team last year, and just added four rookies in the draft.
"Just because all the young players improved last season doesn't mean that they're done growing. We need Emmanuel (Mudiay) and Nikola to continue on the same path from the end of last season, and the same thing can be said for every other player on our roster," the coach said.