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Denver Nuggets: Three Key Pieces for the Future

ByBlake Holmes|
Dec 5, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray (27) celebrates with guard Malik Beasley (L) after his three pointer against the Philadelphia 76ers during the second half at Wells Fargo Center. The Denver Nuggets won 106-98. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 5, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray (27) celebrates with guard Malik Beasley (L) after his three pointer against the Philadelphia 76ers during the second half at Wells Fargo Center. The Denver Nuggets won 106-98. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
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Mar 8, 2017; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Gary Harris (14) reacts in the fourth quarter against the Washington Wizards at the Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 8, 2017; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Gary Harris (14) reacts in the fourth quarter against the Washington Wizards at the Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

The Nuggets have a lot of guards, but each of them have potential to be something special.

At times, it seemed like the Nuggets just had too many guards. The claim made sense, with the team holding onto five shooting guards at one point. These shooting guards were Gary Harris, Will Barton, Jamal Murray (moved to PG late in the season), Malik Beasley, and Mike Miller.

Even with the Murray move, that left the Nuggets with three-point guards and four shooting guards. Out of all of these players, who has the best chance to do big things?

Gary Harris has proved that he was something special this season, especially towards the end. I was a fan of the former Spartan, and I liked him even more as time ran by. There were several dazzling performances of his, like his 28 point performance against the Rockets. The Nuggets lost that game, but it was certainly not because of his play.

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Jamal Murray came out of his shell more and more during the season, and threw together some impressive performances. One example came against the Chicago Bulls, in which he dropped 24 in a nail-biting win. He started the season 0-18 from the field, but he’s away from that and he definitely hasn’t looked back. I love the move to point guard for him, and he could truly blossom in that role for the Nuggets.

I still enjoy watching Will Barton off of the bench, although he has been the definition of inconsistent. He’ll go off and drop 20 off of the bench one night, and then score five points off of 2-9 shooting. I wrote an article on Barton to where I compared him to the famous film, “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” in the title, and I still believe that the shoe fits.

Finally, I’ll go ahead and get this out-of-the-way, I love Malik Beasley. I love everything that he has done and accomplished while starting his NBA career. While I think that he deserves more playing time on the NBA roster, I also see the movements to the D-League for him. When he’s with the team and not in the game, he’s the best bench presence in the league. The Nuggets twitter account even went so far as to have a “Beasley Bench Cam” highlighting him. He’s a freakish athlete, with a sweet jumper as well, and a highlight that he can take away from this season is his posterizing dunk on Lakers big Ivica Zubac. Not to mention, in a recent D-League game for the Sioux Fall Sky-Force, Beasley dropped 32 points, with 19 boards and 7 assists.

With plenty of shooting guards, the Nuggets should be ready for great production from the smaller guys.

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