ESPN gives Nuggets' stars high praise with unusual characterization

Denver Nuggets v Oklahoma City Thunder - Game Seven | Joshua Gateley/GettyImagesRankings are all the rage in NBA media these days, and with the regular season still weeks away, ESPN rolled out its rankings of “Big 3s”, or each team’s top three players. They put the Nuggets’ trio of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Aaron Gordon all the way up at number two on the list.

If you’re just judging the aggregate rank of all three players, it makes some sense, as Jokic alone vaults the ranking quite a way. But it’s odd and feels wrong to view these guys as any kind of “big 3”. It’s usually Jokic then everyone else, sometimes Jokic and Murray plus everyone else, but very rarely Jokic, Murray, and…