Kenneth Faried Starting To Show Why The Denver Nuggets Held On To Him

Mar 17, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Nuggets small forward Kenneth Faried (35) drives to the basket against Los Angeles Clippers power forward Blake Griffin (32) in the first quarter at the Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

There was some questioning and skepticism about Kenneth Faried‘s game switching from the run & gun style George Karl offense to the Brian Shaw half-court offense. Faried was viewed as a high-motor player who excels in the fast-break offseason coupled with put-back layups and dunks. Now in the month of March, Faried’s development and familiarity with Shaw’s offense has taken off.

Prior to Friday’s loss to the Dallas Mavericks on the road, Kenneth Faried recorded double-digit points in 14 consecutive games; seven games in which he recorded 20+ points. Faried is just coming off of a game against the Washington Wizards where he scored 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting, collecting 8 rebounds and 3 blocks while shooting 4-of-5 from the charity stripe.

The month of January looked bleak for the forward out of Moorhead State as he recorded just five 10+ point games where he never scored above 15 points. That’s when the fans were clamoring for a trade and the trade speculation started to swirl. Faried was mentioned in a swap for New York Knicks shooting guard Iman Shumpert who got off to a slow start as well where he is just averaging 6.8 points per game.

Denver made the smart decision on not pulling the trigger on the trade as Faried’s post game continues to evolve. He has even shown glimpses of a mid-range game that tends to be streaky but you can tell he is working on it.

Another amazing statistic that was mentioned earlier was that Faried had seven games in the month of March where he scored 20+ points in seven of the fourteen games. Prior to March, he only scored 20+ points in only five other games; three of which came in the month of February. Perhaps the trade speculation swirling around the forward pushed his game to new heights.

Although the season may be lost for the Denver Nuggets, Kenneth Faried continues to give fans a reason to watch while key players like Nate Robinson, Danilo Gallinari, J.J. Hickson, and JaVale McGee are all out for the year. Brian Shaw has found himself a post-player that continues to perform game in and game out while Denver will likely get a top-ten pick in the 2014 NBA Draft which can make them even more scarier next season with healthy bodies returning.