Reggie Miller thinks Brad Daugherty would have been the first Nikola Jokic

The NBA Playoffs are underway and Reggie Miller thinks the Cleveland Cavaliers had the first version of Nikola Jokic.

This shouldn’t be seen as a “hot-take”, Nikola Jokic is the best player in basketball. He just is. He should be a three-time MVP, and he has a history of dragging lackluster rosters into the playoffs on his own. This year, Michael Porter Jr. and Jamal Murray are healthy, and they’re proving that with some help, Jokic can dominate entire teams with limited effort.

He’s as good offensively as anyone, and defensively, he’s far better than anyone has ever given him credit for. He’s as good as they come, but apparently, in the eyes of some, Jokic is the second coming of a former Cleveland Cavaliers icon, Brad Daugherty.

And this isn’t just a blogger saying this, it’s Reggie Miller, Indiana Pacer legend and NBA Hall of Famer.

While on the Dan Patrick show in May, Miller went on to gush about the Cavs’ former big man, and explained that Daughert would be a better version of Jokic, saying;

"I will put you like this; if Brad Daugherty played in today’s game, with today’s rules, he would be The Joker 10.0. He would so dominate in today’s game, Brad Daugherty.Unbelievable skills. Footwork, could face you up, play with his back to the basket, assist. Like Mark Price. Mark Price would dominate in today’s game.Those high pick and rolls, him and Daugherty, oh! My Pacers, we did not want to see them."

Brad Daugherty and Mark Price should be spoken about more often than they are

For Miller to speak so glowingly about Daugherty and Price is a sign that they are two true legends of the game. Neither man is in the Naismith Hall of Fame (also referred to as the NBA Hall of Fame), but they should be. What Price and Daugherty did during their primes is not only win a ton of basketball games, but they shaped the league into what it would become.

These guys made the pick and roll a thing of beauty, and not just the 80s and 90s pick and roll either. We’re not talking about a guy taking a handoff and driving to the paint. The stuff they did in the 80s and 90s was similar to what the Warriors are doing now. High-key pick and rolls where the goal is to take an uncontested three.

That’s what the Cavs were doing nearly 30 years before Steph Curry and company.

It’s time both men get honored for the revolutionaries they were.