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.
Player no. 2) - Jalen Pickett
Pickett is actually the conventional point guard on the roster. Like Strawther, he was drafted last season when he was picked 32nd overall out of Penn State. He barely cracked 100 total minutes in his first season, but the Nuggets have high hopes for the 24-year-old.
Pickett played five years of college basketball, three at Siena, then two as a Nittany Lion. Pickett became one of the most reliable floor generals in the country and the Nuggets are hoping he can fill that role off their bench for years to come.
He can handle and shoot the ball and Denver needs that in spades. Look for him to take the reins for this Summer League team and hopefully make them look composed and cohesive. The Nuggets don’t currently have a clear backup point guard on the roster and with a strong summer, Pickett could definitely earn a chance or even win the job to start the regular season.
Pickett is going to have to bring a hard-nosed defensive attitude and intensity and provide much-needed energy as well as taking care of the ball on offense, and creating shots for himself and others. We know he’s capable and now it’s time for him to make a leap and carve out a role.
Player no. 3) - DaRon Holmes II
The Nuggets will also be expecting a lot from their first-round draft pick, DaRon Holmes II. Denver traded three 2nd-round picks to move up from 28th to 22nd overall where they drafted the big man out of Dayton.
Ideally, Holmes will play a big frontcourt role off the bench for the Nuggets, spelling Aaron Gordon and Nikola Jokic and contributing right out of the gate. That would be huge for the team and that’s something else to watch for in Las Vegas.
Holmes has a real chance to play big minutes and to be the first big man off the bench. They want him to play the 4, but he really has the skills to play alongside any of Jokic, Gordon, or newly signed Dario Saric.
Summer League is obviously not the be-all, end-all for NBA prospects, but it can certainly be predictive. The best players usually do stick out and a promising performance has definitely captured attention in the past. Roster spots are on the line and contracts can be earned in these games.
The Nuggets bench is full of question marks; if they can find a project on this team and turn them into a real player for them, that would be a massive boost. Everybody on this team is auditioning for an NBA role. Let’s hope Friday night is the start of something big for Nuggets basketball.