The Denver Nuggets had as interesting an off-season as any team in the NBA as they made changes to the front office by promoting Arturas Karnisovas to general manager and Tim Connelly to president of basketball operations. Them they made a big splash in free agency by acquiring Paul Millsap and traded away Danilo Gallinari in exchange for a 2019 second-round pick. But the start of their season was where perhaps, the most significant change happened — and it caught many by surprise.
While many were wondering if coach Michael Malone would stick with Jameer Nelson at point guard, as he did for the majority of last year, while slowly handing over the keys to sophomore sensation Jamal Murray, the Nuggets chose a vastly different route. They chose to waive veteran guard Jameer Nelson in a move that cleared the way for Denver to sign veteran Richard Jefferson — who before Wednesday’s game, only played a total of two minutes this season. With the move, Denver turned its point guard duties over to two young players that the organization have deemed as their guards of the future.
While many expected a big year out of Jamal Murray — and he has found his groove as he’s strung together three consecutive games in which he’s scored 20 or more points, another guard has stood out as well — Emmanuel Mudiay.
In the last four games, Mudiay has looked as good as he has since coming into the league. He’s finishing at the rim, finding the open man and running the second unit. In the last four games, he’s averaged 15.3 points and four assists.
While the easy dig on Mudiay has been to mention how careless he could be with the ball at times, along with his decision-making and his shooting; there has been changes in all those facets of late In those last four games, he’s only averaged 1.9 turnovers per game all while shooting 44% from the field and knocking down 50% of his shots from beyond the arc. Those are big improvements from the third-year player.
“He’s playing with a lot more confidence, that’s the biggest difference that I see,” said Will Barton, who plays alongside Mudiay with the second unit. “He’s shooting the ball with a lot more confidence and looks comfortable out there. He’s out there making big plays for us — and has been all season — it’s good to see that from him.”
Mudiay is in the midst of a four-game streak in which he has scored double digits off the bench. He’s only averaged 23.3 minutes over that span, but due to his recent play, Malone will be hard-pressed not to find him extra minutes.
After his 16-point, six-assist performance against Toronto, the head coach had high praise for his back-up point guard, saying, “He’s a confident young player that’s put a lot of time into his game. I think that’s made a difference.”
While Mudiay must sustain this type of production for a longer duration to see if he’s truly overcome his ongoing struggles, it is good to see him finally start coming into his own and resembling the player the Nuggets drafted with the No.7 pick in the 2015 draft. Eight games into the 2017-18 season, he appears to be on the right track.
