Will the Denver Nuggets Be This Year’s Surprise Team Out West?
By Andrew Dill
John Leyba/The Denver Post via Getty Images
Arron Afflalo
The Nuggets acquired Arron Afflalo in a draft-day-trade with the Orlando Magic. They sent guard Evan Fournier to the Magic, as well as the Nuggets’ 56th pick in this past draft. Afflalo was a member of the Nuggets from 2009-2012 and will bring a lot of upside to the team.
Afflalo has shown improvement in each season after being drafted in 2007. His rookie season produced 3.7 points per game and has increased year after year. In his last season with the Denver Nuggets, the 2011-2012 campaign, he averaged 15.2 points per game. In his first year with the Magic, he averaged 16.5 points per game and increased it last year to 18.2 points per game, a career-high.
Afflalo is a defensive-minded guard that has recently become a great shooter and scorer. He gives Denver exactly what they need on both ends of the court. Not only that, but it will cause some competition at the shooting guard position with Randy Foye. Competition at any position is always good for a team because it brings out the best of the players and makes them perform better, knowing they could lose their starting spot or potentially gain a starting spot.