The Nuggets have had a poor Summer League and one of the reasons is one that is patently obvious and staring fans in the face.
The Nuggets have not been able to replicate the success they had a year ago in Summer League play. Summer League is one of the most unpredictable tournaments in the NBA, but it is still a way for teams to gauge the talent coming up and determine how their future may look.
Denver has vastly underachieved this summer in the tournament and many are forgetting one key reason. The answer is simple. Jamal Murray.
The name in of itself should give you a hint on why the Nuggets haven’t been seeing the same amount of success in Summer League action. It is easy to forget Murray went off last year in his Summer League debut and had a great tournament. His abilities were a big reason why the Nuggets managed to find some level of success in this tournament of youngsters.
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Murray had a great rookie season for Denver and was sadly robbed of Rookie First Team honors and had to settle for Rookie Second Team honors. However, he was the only one on the team to suit up for all of the regular season games this past year and did it while playing with not one, but two sports hernias! The kid is going places and he would have been the clear cut leader of the Summer League squad if he was not rehabbing from injury.
He, Beasley and Hernangomez would have found a lot more success than the current group and may have found a way to pull some of the closer games to a win in the waning minutes. While there is certainly an array of reasons why the Nuggets struggled in Summer League play, the main reason is one name. Jamal Murray.
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If he was playing, rest assured Denver would have had a lot more success in this tournament.