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Denver Nuggets Summer League standout Brandon Goodwin reminds us he’s still waiting for his next NBA opportunity

By Michael Walton

LAS VEGAS, NV - JULY 10: Brandon Goodwin #0 of the Denver Nuggets handles the ball against China on July 10, 2019 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - JULY 10: Brandon Goodwin #0 of the Denver Nuggets handles the ball against China on July 10, 2019 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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More aggression as a (perimeter) scorer

For a player whose value in the NBA will be tied to his ability to score in bunches, Goodwin wasn’t committing nearly hard enough to a shoot-first mentality in Summer League. That wasn’t a problem for Goodwin over the course of the 2019-20 Summer League.

During 2019-20 NBA Summer League Goodwin fired up just under six 3-pointers per game, hitting them at 30.4 percent rate. Now the 3-point percentage certainly would need to be better but if we include Goodwin’s Summer League numbers from last season, you can see the numbers reflect his shooting ability.

Brandon Goodwin’s Summer League 3-PT Shooting:

2019-20: 30.4 percent on 23 total attempts

2018-20 (14 games): 36.5 percent on 52 attempts

Defenses in Vegas were scared to give Goodwin even a sliver space coming off of pick-and-rolls due to his propensity for pulling up from deep with no qualms about it. With opponents trying to go over screens on Goodwin to prevent him from getting off a 3-point shot, it gives him more than enough room to probe deeper into the teeth of the defense, opening up many opportunities on offense.

All of this is to say, Goodwin’s volume shooting opens up the rest of his overall game, which he has definitely improved. The Denver Nuggets were in the middle of the pack (16th and 17th respectively) in terms of 3-point attempts and 3-point percentage and Goodwin—while obviously not being a starter—would be a factor in upping their 3-point total without hurting their overall efficiency.

In 2018-19 Mike Malone’s offense got tons of baskets off of actions where Jamal Murray or Gary Harris were receiving handoffs or outlet passes from Jokic. Goodwin would flourish doing the same, yet he would be capable of initiating these plays 30+ feet from the basket to give him room to get downhill and give defenses a different look.

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