Strike 3: There’s a whole lot of new surrounding the Denver Nuggets this year. New season, new roster, even new expectations (which are actually really similar to some previous expectations.) There’s even going to be some new for Nikola Jokic. He may get the chance to not be the center of attention from time to time.

Of course the general expectations for the Serbian superstar will be pretty much the same. He’ll be expected to put up another MVP-caliber season, making everyone around him – including a good number of new guys – that much better, and at times putting the entire franchise on his back. Same as it ever was.

However, it would be new – in a very good way – if Joker was asked to play a few less minutes and do a little less in terms of carrying the scoring burden he’s had to haul for most of the past five seasons. As all Nuggets fans know, the three-time MVP should actually be the five-time MVP. And this season, there’s no reason to expect any fall off from the 30-year-old future Hall of Famer. He’s in his prime.

However, if you want the new-look Nuggets to overtake the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, you had better hope that you need less from Joker this season, and get more from the new and improved supporting cast. A quick refresher: Last season, while Jokic was on the court, Denver had an “offensive rating” of 125.8, which was the best in NBA history. During those dreaded “non-Jokic minutes” when he was resting, the same stat – team “offensive rating” was the worst in NBA history at 86.3.

Mind boggling.

Thankfully, the new includes new backup center Jonas Valančiūnas, another very large, very mobile and very productive big man to man the paint, presumably when Jokic is on the bench. With Valančiūnas, Bruce Brown, Tim Hardaway Jr. and conceivably Jamal Murray on the floor during the “non-Jokic” minutes, Denver may not be turning 10-point leads into 10-point deficits while Joker’s not on the court on a nightly basis. How important is Valančiūnas? In previous seasons, even high-quality players like Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. couldn’t throw the ball into the ocean while standing on a boat while Joker was on the bench and Denver was lacking in the middle.

The new for Jokic will be an opportunity to play forward for some minutes while Valančiūnas mans the middle. The “twin towers” pairing has been used a bit during the preseason while Denver employed a zone defense, which they reportedly hope to be able to do for spells this season. On offense, sharing the floor with Valančiūnas will allow Joker to channel his inner point guard and really facilitate the Denver offense while he plays facing the basket.

This becomes most important when Denver is matching up with Nugget Nemesis Minnesota and the defending champion Thunder. Both those teams employ a pair of bigs on the court together for sizable amounts of time during a game, and Denver has never really been able to match up.

That all changes if Joker and Big Val can play together, with Aaron Gordon on the wing. Who doesn’t want to see that?

The new supporting cast also includes Cam Johnson, should actually be a better fit in Denver than the guy he’s replacing, Michael Porter Jr. Bringing back Brown and adding Hardaway Jr as well gives Denver newfound depth, and should allow for a lot better bench production.

What this means is that Nuggets Nation should not be rooting for Joker to win another MVP. He needs in-game rest more than he needs another trophy. He needs the second unit, whomever that is, to be able to maintain and heaven forbid, even extend leads while he’s off the court. Joker needs to stop being the only MVP in the past four decades to not have a teammate who is an All-Star. That means Murray needs to finally stay healthy for a full season and be “playoff Jamal” more during the regular season. Maybe Aaron Gordon can shine brighter now. Maybe Christian Braun can bust out.

Denver needs another championship parade, not another MVP award.

As for Joker’s new role alongside Valančiūnas? You just know that growing up, Jokic fancied himself a point guard, bringing the ball up against the press, putting a move on his defender, driving to the basket and then dishing it off to a teammate for a poster dunk. Even as the game’s best big man these days, he still does some of that. Unfortunately for him – but fortunately for the game itself – he outgrew the position. Sort of.

Maybe now he can live out that childhood dream to some degree, and have some fun doing so. It sure will be fun to watch.