Analysis: Nuggets’ Rookies in Vegas Summer League action
By Drew Albee
Every year the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas witnesses many exciting new rookies suiting up for their new teams for the first time. This year, of course, was no exception as the potential future stars of this year’s rookie class — Ben Simmons, Buddy Hield, Kris Dunn, Jaylen Brown and others — took the court in Sin City. Our Denver Nuggets drafted four rookies at this year’s NBA Draft and a trio of them has seen big minutes in Vegas.
Jamal Murray, Juan “Juancho” Hernangomez and Petr Cornelie have each started all three of the Nuggets games in Las Vegas. All three players are averaging more than 24 minutes per game in the desert as the Nuggets’ coaching staff plays with their new “toys” for the first time.
The fourth draftee, Malik Beasley, is being brought along slowly as he recovers from offseason leg surgery and has yet to see the court in Vegas.
As Beasley recovers, he’s still first off of the bench celebrating and cheering on the rest of his teammates. Let’s take a look at some of those teammates and assess how his rookie peers have performed through three games as Summer League action moves to a tournament format. Our Nuggets drew the 4-seed.
Next: Jamal Murray