The 3 most important players to watch for the Denver Nuggets in Summer League
By Ben Handler
Ladies and gentlemen, the wait is over, your Denver Nuggets are officially back in action on Friday night…kind of. The NBA’s Las Vegas Summer League gets underway on Friday night and all 30 teams will be participating, which of course includes the Nuggets.
The last time the Nuggets played basketball as a team, they blew a 20-point lead in the second half of a game seven at home to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The bad taste hasn’t really been washed away following the disappointing round two playoff exit. In fact, if anything, the taste has gotten worse after seeing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope walk away in free agency.
The Nuggets have since signed Dario Saric and brought back Vlatko Cancar. They’re rumored to be in on Russell Westbrook and still have an open roster spot available. But even with any realistic addition to the roster, it’s hard to ignore that the team has objectively gotten worse on paper and will be relying on many unproven players.
The good news is that means the summer league will feature a lot of players who will actually matter to Nuggets fans. The bench is thin and green and there are plenty of available minutes up for grabs. Some of those minutes will be earned in Las Vegas in these Summer League games. Here are the 3 most important players to keep an eye on.
Player no. 1) - Julian Strawther
Julian Strawther will be relied on this season to play rotation minutes. He was drafted last year and showed some promise but suffered an injury at a tough time and ultimately failed to crack the rotation down the stretch.
This year, that likely won’t be the case as the team has lost a lot of veteran depth, especially in the backcourt. Strawther needs to come in and hit shots off the bench, which he’s capable of doing. Long-range shooting is a big need for the Nuggets and Strawther is one of the guys who can hopefully fill the void.
Michael Malone also recently praised Strawther’s ability to run the show and stated that he believes Julian can play some point guard for the Nuggets. That would be big as the team lost their backup point guard in Reggie Jackson and have yet to replace him.
Keep an eye on Strawther; hopefully, he will jump off the screen and look like one of the best players on the floor. The Nuggets need shooting and ballhandling as badly as anything. They’ve made a big bet on their young players and Strawther is one of the most important.