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Jameer Nelson Has Thrived In Melvin Hunt’s Offense

By Chris Kirby

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Jameer Nelson has had one of the craziest seasons for one particular player in recent memory. After spending 10 years playing for the Orlando Magic, he signed with the Dallas Mavericks in the offseason. He became the starting point guard for the Mavs, but on December 19th, he was flipped to the Boston Celtics for Rajon Rondo. As short as his stint in Dallas was, his time in Boston was even more short-lived. After six short games, the Celtics traded him to the Denver Nuggets for Nate Robinson.

Nelson has remained a Nugget since that January 23rd trade, but it has seemed like he has played for two different teams in Denver this season — the Brian Shaw version and the Melvin Hunt version. Nelson has played exactly 17 games for each head coach and he is proof that sometimes a coaching change can do wonders for a player. Some players will thrive in one system and flounder in another, and Nelson is living proof of that.

Former head coach Brian Shaw’s triangle offense was a complete failure over his season and a half in Denver. The Nuggets won 57 games in 2013 under George Karl running a fast-paced, high-scoring system that took advantage of the city’s elevation, and many players from that squad remain on the roster today. Shaw decided he wanted to change the culture of the team, and implement a slower-paced offense that didn’t suit his personnel. Nelson wasn’t on that 2013 team, but he was also a misfit within that archaic offense. Over 17 games under Shaw, he averaged 6.9 points and 4.2 assists, while shooting 37.2-percent from the field and a lousy 28.6-percent from three-point range (see shot chart above). Shaw wanted his point guards to play a more traditional style and set up the offense, never creating for themselves. If he would have loosened the reigns a little bit, he would have realized that he had one of the best sixth men in the league on his bench.

Interim head coach Melvin Hunt took over for the Nuggets on March 3rd, and he immediately scrapped the triangle in favor of a spread offense. No player has benefited from the change more than Nelson — he has averaged 12.3 points and 3.1 assists, while shooting a scorching hot 50.9-percent from the field and 40.5-percent from distance (see shot chart above). His assists numbers have gone down slightly, but he has been the Nuggets go-to scoring option off of the bench. His role is much more defined and he has thrived, becoming the most efficient Nugget since Hunt took over. He has been an absolute beast in catch-and-shoot situations from beyond the arc (44.4-percent), but he isn’t a one dimensional three-point shooter either. When he takes one dribble before attempting a two-point shot, he hits on an absolutely ridiculous 80.0-percent of those attempts. Yeah, you read that right — 80.0-percent!

Jameer Nelson has always been a quality player from the day he entered the league in 2004, but many fans and analysts thought he may be on his last legs as recently as a month ago. Now that he has found a role that suits his playing style, he should be able to tack a few extra years onto his career. He has a $3.25 million player-option on his contract for next season and there is no guarantee he will exercise it after playing so well down the stretch. If he does decide to leave in the offseason, he should make sure to find a system that fits his playing style. There is also no guarantee that Hunt will remain the coach in Denver beyond these last few games, but if he does get the job, his first priority should be to extend an olive branch to Nelson and convince him to come back next season. They say fine wine gets better with age — hopefully that’s the case with Jameer Nelson as well.

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