Halil Kanacevic, Denver Nugget Summer League Player
By Len Nunes
Mar 20, 2014; Buffalo, NY, USA; Saint Joseph’s Hawks forward Halil Kanacevic (45) passes over Connecticut Huskies forward DeAndre Daniels (2) in the second half of a men’s college basketball game during the second round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament at First Niagara Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports
For every Denver Nugget Summer League player I have previewed, I have trusted Hoopshype.com and their posted rosters. I have also been keeping tabs on the Twitter account of Mark Porcaro. One name he has on his Denver Nugget list led me to the Phoenix Suns (Taylor Braun). The other name, Halil Kanacevic, led to me to a news article from “Staten Island Live” confirming he had signed with the Denver Nuggets. Snippets from the article are as follows:
"(Staten) Island product and the 2014 Atlantic-10 Conference championship tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, Halil Kanacevic, has agreed to play for the Denver Nuggets organization in the upcoming NBA Summer League…The 6-foot-8 small forward, who starred at St. Joseph’s University and helped lead the Hawks to an A-10 tournament title at the Barclays Center in March, will join a group of young players that will likely include Nuggets draft choices from last week’s NBA draft…averaged 10.8 points, 8.8 rebounds and 4.4 assists this year in his senior season playing for Phil Martelli at St. Joe’s…Nuggets were one of the NBA franchises who sent scouts to take a look at Kanacevic, an agile, high-post, superior-passing big man, while the South Beach resident played briefly in Italy following his college season."
Here is a link to Halil Kanacevic’s career bio from the St. Joseph Hawks.
What I found odd is that while typing Kanacevic’s name into my Google search bar, the drop down menu included “Halil Kanacevic middle finger”. The story was dated December 12, 2012. A follow up story was done a year later regarding the re-match. So I guess Villanova fans of the Denver Nuggets may have some heckling to get out of their system.
I am looking forward to see if Kanacevic can turn at least one double-double during Summer League. Moreso, I am excited to see the “superior-passing” aspect of his game. A big man to kick the ball out to Ty Lawson, Nate Robinson, Aaron Afflalo and Randy Foye during the regular season? Yes please!