Denver Nuggets Mid-Term Grades: Arron Afflalo
Nov 12, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Arron Afflalo (10) during the game against the Portland Trail Blazers at Pepsi Center. The Trail Blazers won 130-113. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
As we approach the midway point of the 2014-15 NBA season, it’s the perfect time to evaluate the performance of each player to date. This week, Nugg Love editor S.E. Shepherd will be handing out mid-term grades for each player currently on the Nuggets’ active roster. Next up: Arron Afflalo.
B+. Arron Afflalo’s return to Denver has been a big plus for the team, especially in terms of giving the team a consistent scoring threat at the shooting guard position. But his long-term future with the team remains a question mark.. G. Denver Nuggets. ARRON AFFLALO
Player: Arron Afflalo
Key Stats: Afflalo is averaging 15.4 points, 1.8 assists, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.5 turnovers per game. He is shooting 43.8% from the floor, and 35% from three-point territory. He plays 33.5 minutes per game, second most on the roster behind point guard Ty Lawson.
Best Game: Afflalo put up 34 points on 11 for 18 shooting (including 4 of 6 from long-range) versus the Minnesota Timberwolves on January 5, a game the Nuggets won by 9 points.
Worst Game: Arron Afflalo’s worst game by far came on November 12 against the Portland Trailblazers. The Nuggets were embarrassed during the game, which they lost by 17 points, and Afflalo was benched after showing very little effort in the game’s early minutes. He played just 10 minutes, his lowest minutes total by far for the season, and contributed just 4 points on 1 of 4 shooting.
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Bottom Line: Arron Afflalo’s return to Denver has, for the most part, been a successful experiment. Afflalo has more than lived up to his reputation as a volume scorer who can drop 15+ points per game without breaking a sweat. He’s scored 15 or more points in 22 games this season, and only failed to break double figures in 7 games.
That’s all well and good, as Afflalo has showed he can fill up the “points” column on the stat sheet. But the problem is that’s the only column he fills on a regular basis. If you’ve watched this team play this season, you know Afflalo most loves to work out of the post or back opponents down. Except he is almost never a threat to do anything but shoot the ball when he finds himself in one of those two situations. You could probably count on two hands the number of times he’s kicked the ball out of the post. Letting Afflalo do his thing is fine, but imagine how much more dangerous this team would be if he was a threat to pass the ball on occasion as well.
I’m not going to complain too much, though, because Afflalo appears to give maximum effort on the court. He’s an above-average perimeter defender and although his shooting percentage from three-point distance (35%) is nowhere near as good as it was last season when he played for Orlando (42.7%), he has established himself as a fairly reliable deep threat, something the Nuggets certainly were hoping for when they reacquired him.
I’m still not convinced Arron Afflalo will re-sign with the Nuggets after this season, when he has a player option for the 2015-16 season. But it may not even come down to him making that decision, as persistent rumors have popped up in recent weeks speculating that the Nuggets are open to moving Afflalo this season if the right deal comes along.