Denver Nuggets: Bones Hyland scores 62 at Pro-Am League

Coming off an excellent rookie campaign for the Denver Nuggets, Bones Hyland is showcasing his shot-making and improvement this offseason with an impressive 62-point performance at Maryland’s Brunson Pro-Am League.

It wasn’t just a run-of-the-mill NBA player tearing up an amateur league, Hyland had highlights on top of highlights as he tore through defenses with tough jumpers and juicy finishes. The crowd was loving it, including former Denver Nugget, Will Barton who came out to watch.

With 62 of his team’s 79 points, Bones was informed during the game that the current record-holder of the Brunson Pro-Am, who had 63, passed away a few years ago. Because of this, he decided to pass up on a final shot and keep the record as it was.

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After gaining All-Rookie Second Team honors this past season, it’s clear that the Denver Nuggets made the right choice by selecting the former VCU guard with the 26th pick. These Pro-Am highlights are exciting to see as Bones should be the first guard off the bench for Denver next season and everything looks to be trending in the right direction.

It’s become a trend to see NBA players play in amateur tournaments this offseason after LeBron James surprisingly played in the Drew League. While the NBA players are, of course, tearing up the competition, it’s encouraging to see Bones play at such a high level.

But then again, not all players are with the Atlanta Hawks’ John Collins fouling out of the Drew League in his first appearance in a loss…

The best-case scenario for Bones next season is as a scoring sixth-man off the bench for the Nuggets. His ability to shoot off the catch or off the dribble makes him an excellent rotation piece next season, anchoring the second unit or playing off a star like Nikola Jokic.

With Hyland’s sticky handle and ability to finish despite a slender frame, the comparisons to a player like Jamal Crawford are obvious. On top of that, Crawford had several offseason highlights playing in Pro-Ams across the country including his own CrawsOver which starred Chet Holmgren and Paolo Banchero this week.

Bones Hyland’s ceiling is growing with every day but for next season, as one of the younger players in this rotation, his role will be as a backup guard, helping the big three make a deep playoff push.

For now, Nuggets fans get to sit back and watch one of the more exciting scorers in the league show what he can do.