3 takeaways as Denver Nuggets’ Summer League comes to an end

1. Gillespie could sneak into the Nuggets second unit in 2022

I think almost every college basketball fan was shocked to see Collin Gillespie not land with an NBA team on the night of the draft. Despite being an older five-year point guard with limited upside, he still played for one of the most renowned programs in the country (Villanova) and has steadily improved his game over the course of the last five years.

So, the fact that the Denver Nuggets capitalized on the situation and reeled in Gillespie on a two-way deal almost immediately after the draft ended was genius, to say the least.

Over the the Nuggets’ Summer League display, Gillespie has taken on a lot of responsibility. As the only true point guard who played in four of five games, Gillespie was tasked with creating plays for an offense full of non-creators. Braun and Watson are a tremendous off-ball scorers, while the rest of the lineup essentially consists almost exclusively of spot up shooters. However, none of them can create plays for themselves let alone others.

This means that Collin Gillespie has been forced into the lead facilitator role, in which he has thrived, averaging over 4.3 assists on just 1.5 turnovers per game. What’s even more impressive is the fact that this hasn’t impacted his scoring ability either, averaging over 11 points per game with .395/.280/.800 shooting splits.

It’s also worth mentioning that he’s been one of the better rebounding and defending point guards in Summer League action, coming down with more than five rebounds and 1.5 steals per game.

All of this is to say that Gillespie is a tremendously well-rounded player, and has been tasked with taking on a far greater role than anybody who was actually drafted to the Denver Nuggets. Even though he’ll probably never be a starter at the NBA level, he could prove to be an effective backup sooner rather than later.

The Denver Nuggets currently have Jamal Murray, Bones Hyland and Ish Smith locking up their depth at the point guard position. Murray obviously has the starting spot locked down and Bones is projected to be one of the first players off the bench. However, there is certainly a scenario where Gillespie sneaks into the lineup as the third-best point guard in this rotation.

He’s a dependable and experienced ball-handler who plays mistake-free and unselfish basketball, which is exactly what Denver needs in a two-way player and exactly what could earn him minutes with the Nuggets sooner than expected. Taking all of this into account, I wouldn’t be at all shocked if Gillespie weaseled his way into Malone’s rotation by the end of next season.