It will be hard for Nikola Jokic to draw a more favorable comparison this season than the one presented by Hall of Fame point guard Isaiah Thomas two weeks ago.

“He reminds me of Magic Johnson,” Thomas said as he sat courtside in London with the Nuggets’ television broadcast team during Denver’s victory over the Indiana Pacers.

There are probably few quicker ways for Jokic, the Nuggets’ 21-year-old, 6-foot-10 rising star, to gain national attention for his diverse game than being mentioned with one of best and most versatile players in NBA history — by a contemporary, no less.

But it was a far more low-key parallelism made last week that perhaps best captures the unique and increasingly dominant skill set of a player who is quickly grabbing the league’s attention.

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Told of the latest attempt to paint an accurate picture of his game, Jokic smiled.

“That’s cool,” said the second-year center from Serbia. “I like water polo a lot. Whenever it’s on TV, I’m going to watch it.”

The churning legs of a water polo player underwater can provide the boost necessary to see over a defender, survey the pool and make a precision pass or shot on goal. Of course, rising above the water means little if the player with the ball in his hand can’t finish the play.

Jokic has kept riding the waves since entering the starting lineup in the middle of December. In his past 14 games entering Saturday’s contest against the Suns, which he missed with a left hip flexor strain, Jokic averaged 23.4 points, 10.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game while shooting 60.8 percent from the field.

Behind that eye-popping stat line, which puts him in elite company since the calendar flipped to 2017, is a package of skills found in few players in the NBA today. It’s a set of tools that has those in the game reaching to different generations — or even different sports — to find comparisons.

Examining Jokic’s success requires a deeper look at how each of those skills are producing more and more confidence for a former second-round draft pick who is only 121 games into his career.

“I feel,” Jokic said, “like I can do anything on the court.”

Vison

The Nuggets’ front office made a marketing tape last month that included a four-minute highlight reel of Jokic passing the basketball.

The tapes are common practice for NBA teams that are trying to boost the all-star candidacy of their top players.

Nuggets coach Michael Malone had seen all the passes on the tape happen in real time this season, but there was something about seeing them all spliced together at once that had him transfixed.

“You watch a reel of four minutes of just his passes, it’s remarkable,” Malone said of Jokic. “He knows when guys are going to be open before they even know it.”

The Nuggets have scored 120 points or more 13 times this season, which is five more than they had in the previous two seasons combined. The prolific pace has been sparked by Jokic’s ability to run the offense and locate teammates from any spot on the floor.

Jokic’s vision begins with his patience. At 6-10 with a pterodactyl wingspan and a strong 250 pounds, he has the advantage of being able to deliver the ball from multiple angles, whether he’s facing the rim or has his back to the basket.

Jokic averages 43.3 passes per game, according to NBA data, and his ability to deliver the basketball from various spots has put a strain on opposing defenses.

“Nikola is a guy we play all over the floor,” Malone said. “He’ll be in the low post. At times he’ll be in the high post and at the elbows. We’ll play through him anywhere.”

In American basketball culture, above-the-rim play fills mixtapes and grabs attention. Jokic grew up in a hoops environment in Serbia that views passing as a lethal weapon.

“The defense is good there, but offense will always beat defense,” he said. “When you pass the ball there is always going to be someone open.”

Versatile scoring

For all his talent, Jokic doesn’t spend nearly as much time with his head above the rim as DeAndre Jordan, Rudy Gobert and Dwight Howard.

They are the only players in the NBA who had shot a higher percentage from the field this season than Jokic’s 59.4 percent clip entering Friday.

“Out of all those guys, he’s the guy who’s not dunking the ball,” Malone said. “He is a below-the-rim player. His effectiveness around the basket has been very impressive. He’s not the most athletic guy, but he’s learning how to use his angles and his shot fakes and his skill to counter some of that.”

The ease with which Jokic can handle and distribute the basketball has in some ways made Jokic an under-the-radar shotmaker. Without the explosion to sky for lobs like Jordan and Howard, Jokic’s existence as an offensive center relies on shooting touch and crafty approaches inside.

To that end, Jokic has shot 60.3 percent on attempts from 5 to 9 feet, available real estate for a player who doesn’t fly to the rim. That mark is the best of any NBA center who attempts at least one shot per game from that distance.

Inside of 5 feet, where Jokic shoots 67.8 percent, he relies on a large catalog of offensive moves he has honed with the help of Nuggets player development coach Ognjen Stojakovic, who also is from Serbia.

“We really practice all the shots — right hand, left hand, off the left leg, right leg, fadeaway,” Jokic said. “I like watching Nowitzki, Duncan, Diaw, but I just try to improve myself.”

IQ

Nuggets rookie guard Jamal Murray stood in the corner with the ball in his hands during a recent home game against the Sacramento Kings and faced a defender as Jokic raised his hand a few feet outside the low block.

Murray floated a pass to Jokic then sprinted to his left. Though Jokic had his back to the basket when Murray passed him on the cut, the Kentucky product knew he still had to expect a pass, a quasi-secret he held over the defender trailing him.

Sure enough, Jokic floated a pass over his right shoulder that escaped the late, outstretched reach of Sacramento’s Omri Casspi and into the waiting arms of Murray, who finished the layup.S

Snapshots like that illustrate the court awareness of a player who won’t turn 22 until Feb. 19.

“He has a very high IQ for a young player who has been in the league one year,” Malone said. “He’s a step ahead. He knows where the defense is and where the cut is going to be.”

Malone has been particularly impressed with Jokic’s ability to adapt early in his career. During a game against the Atlanta Hawks on Dec. 23, which Denver lost on the last possession, the coach was incensed that his best player had once again found himself in foul trouble because he had picked up emotional penalties of frustration.

“When you’re a guy playing maybe 18 or 19 minutes a night, you can do that,” Malone said. “But when you’re the centerpiece of our offense and a guy we need to play 32 minutes, you can’t take that foul.”

Since that loss, Jokic has rarely approached foul trouble, allowing the Nuggets to maintain their rhythm with their center as their top playmaker. That emotional growth, Malone said, is another way Jokic is embracing a growing understanding of the game.

“I think he’s maturing in that aspect and realizing, ‘I can’t do that to my team because I’m too important; let me control my frustrations and emotions better and have a next-play mentality,'” Malone said. “Give him credit. He has done a better job in that area. He’s a tremendous talent.”