Going against Nikola Jokic daily has made Jonas Valanciunas better, and the belief is that the addition of Denver’s new backup center can have the same effect on the Nuggets’ franchise player.

“Not easy,” Valanciunas said of his battles against Jokic after Thursday’s practice at Ball Arena. “He makes me better, just by going against him every day. … He makes me step up and bring my A game every day. Sometimes you’re not feeling well or you don’t want to go as hard. He keeps me in the loop to be practicing 100%.”

The Nuggets’ hope is that the addition of another big, skilled center will also benefit Jokic after years of inconsistent play at backup center. Valanciunas’s 6-foot-11, 265-pound frame is a mostly welcome presence.

“It’s hard to mimic a guy that size,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said Thursday. “For Nikola to bang with him underneath, we have to be careful with how much we do it. We want to keep those guys healthy, but it’s super important.”

Denver’s also excited about the ability for the first and second units to play more similar styles of basketball, thanks to the presence of another above-average passing big man. Valanciunas made sure to acknowledge they’re in different stratospheres as creators.

“Maybe a little bit better,” Valanciunas said with a wry smile.

“I don’t know how to express his passing ability. I think we don’t need to say anything. We all see how he can pass and what his court vision is. It’s great.”

Having a more trusted backup center also unlocks some rotational flexibility for Adelman. In past years, Jokic regularly played the entire first quarter and rested until the middle of the second quarter. In the closest things the Nuggets had to dress rehearsals in the preseason, Adelman has subbed Jokic out around the nine-minute mark. Having Valanciunas around allows the Nuggets’ first-year coach to play to his team’s strengths depending on the matchup, including the potential of playing the pair together. The Nuggets have played short stretches with the two bigs on the court. That lineup remains a work in progress, but it will be an option, depending on the night, once the regular season starts.

“It’ll change. It depends on how the other team rotates. I think there’s going to be games where (Jokic) still plays all 12. There will be nights where we like a specific lineup, whether that’s the big-big lineup or play small with Cam (Johnson) at the four, and if that lineup we feel like is best for us early in the second quarter, I’ll get him out,” Adelman said. “I think it will be night to night. (That’s) not to mention, I’m pretty sure we were one of the best first-quarter teams in the league last year. So, the whole 12-minute thing kind of worked out. We have to be careful not to tweak something just to tweak it. … I do think to use the roster all the way through, there’s going to be nights you take him out to get him back in earlier in the second quarter to make sure that lineup works properly.”

Valanciunas didn’t choose Denver. The Nuggets traded Dario Saric to Sacramento to acquire the Lithuanian this summer. There were reports Valanciunas preferred to continue his career in Greece, but he’s said he’s happy in Denver since his first public appearance at media day. That’s been Peyton Watson’s experience in his short time with his new second-unit running mate.

“He’s a good dude. I didn’t even understand, just because you see him on another team, and he’s all big and menacing looking. You’re like ‘This guy might be weird,’ but he came in here, bro, there’s been a smile on his face ever since,” Watson said.

“I remember I saw him in the morning before media day. He had just got off an eight-, nine-hour flight, and he was like ‘Boy, I need some coffee.’ … That made me crack up literally at 8 a.m. Big Val, he fits in perfectly. Great dude for our culture and great dude for us on the court.”

The 33-year-old has almost exclusively been a starter in the NBA. He’s started 848 of the 937 regular-season games over the course of his career, but he’s headed for a bench role with the Nuggets. That doesn’t appear to be an issue, as Valanciunas is more focused on adding to his 58 playoff appearances.

‘We all got to put our egos away and come into the building knowing that only together we can do big things. If you’re going to try to put yourself in front of everybody, that’s not going to work. We’ve all got to see how we can be better as a team, not as one person,” Valanciunas said.

“I want to win – no matter what my role is. Playing, not playing, I want to win. I’m going to support this group, and I’m going to be active on the court or active on the bench, supporting my guys. … I want to win. Whatever it takes to win, I’ll do.”

The new role is not a reflection of his ability, but it is a benefit to the man in front of him on the depth chart and the rest of his new team.

“To have a starting center as your backup, to go against Nikola every day, it’s a major advantage,” Adelman said.