The Denver Nuggets were ecstatic during the 2015 NBA Draft when Emmanuel Mudiay fell to them with the number seven overall pick. Mudiay was projected by many to be a top-five or even top-three pick, and the Nuggets had a glaring need at the point guard position with Ty Lawson having already fallen out of favor.
Mudiay is a great talent, but he has had an up-and-down rookie season. He has shown some flashes of having the ability to fulfill that potential, but he has been far too inconsistent, which should be expected. As a result, Nuggets head coach Mike Malone would like to see Mudiay participate in summer league.
"My gut is to have Emmanuel play summer league," Malone said. "I think he needs to continue to work on his game, work with our coaches, and use summer league as another chance to get better in a very controlled, safe environment. But that's something that [general manager] Tim Connelly and I will talk about as the season winds down."
Obviously by that statement nothing is set in stone, but it would seem like a no-brainer to have Mudiay play in the summer league. The only negative is the potential for injury before the season even begins, and that may be more of a concern for Mudiay than most. Mudiay missed some time earlier this year with an ankle injury and missed the majority of his one season in China due to injury as well. Even with all of that, the Nuggets can't allow fear of injury to prevent them from having Mudiay play and improve his game.
Mudiay's numbers don't look all that bad when you take a quick glance at them (12.4 ppg, 5.5 apg, and 3.4 rpg), but it's the efficiency numbers that need to improve. Through 65 games Mudiay is shooting just 36 percent from the floor, 31 percent from three and 67 percent from the free throw line. Those are all numbers the Nuggets would like to see drastically improve.
Mudiay is still just 20 years old and has shown flashes, so these numbers should not be a big concern yet. Having said that, the Nuggets still would like to see a big leap from him in year two as they expect to be more competitive, and the summer league would be a good start. Mudiay has the right mindset and calls new Hall of Famer Allen Iverson "an older brother," so he has good people to learn from around him. At this point it's about getting reps, so the Nuggets would be wise to have him play in Las Vegas.
