Denver Nuggets NBA Draft Prospect Analysis: Jalen Brunson
By Blake Holmes
It’s officially NBA Draft week Denver Nuggets fans and today I’ll be discussing the point guard out of Villanova, Jalen Brunson.
I’m a pretty big fan of Brunson, the Associated Press Player of the Year, and it would be interesting to see him in a Denver Nuggets jersey. Honestly, this is a pick that would be used in the second round should be available. That is, unless the Nuggets made a deal and got a pick later in the first or an earlier second round pick.
Brunson was a junior who left the Wildcats with a year of eligibility left on the table. He’s played for a great program under Jay Wright, a program that has won two out of the last three National Championships. Does it seems like coincidence that it was during Brunson’s tenure?
Maybe so, and I know what many fans are thinking, “we don’t need to worry about another point guard!” That being said, for a late-first or second round pick, Brunson wouldn’t be the worst idea. I mean, the dude averaged almost 19 points per game, on 52 percent from the floor and 40 percent from deep in his last season,(per SR).
Brunson could be at the very least, a serviceable back up to Jamal Murray if the team decides to part ways with the veteran, Devin Harris. He’s a great shot-creator and leader, something that a back-up point guard should have under their belt.
Brunson is a fighter, and he knows what it takes to play in big games. Judging off of a resume with three trips to the NCAA Tournament, all of them running pretty deep, he knows what it feels like to have clutch situations. Compare it to the NBA game and think, the Nuggets were in plenty of clutch situations last year.
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While it’s a difference in the skill level, he really didn’t waiver when it mattered most, and I like the fight.