Nuggets: Reasonable Expectations for their Rookies

The Denver Nuggets have a young team who they are trying to keep growing and getting better. They added some talented rookies in the draft, but what are some reasonable expectations for them?

There is no question that the Denver Nuggets have talent on their roster. Through the NBA draft, they added some more young talent to their roster. Some experts believe that their first pick was a steal as he should have gone in the first round. Only time will tell if that is the case.

One thing is for sure, the Nuggets had an opportunity to really add some talent through the draft with three picks in the top 20. The also had two selections in the second round, but traded one of them away to the Oklahoma City Thunder for cash considerations.

At number seven overall, their first selection, the Denver Nuggets selected Jamal Murray a dual guard out of Kentucky. This will pair Murray with Emmanuel Mudiay and should make a young dynamic back court. These two have skill-sets that compliment each other, which is what teams want.

In his freshman year at Kentucky, Murray averaged 20.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists. That is 0.7 point per game higher than the Nuggets leading scorer, Danilo Gallinari, from last year. Murray scored that on a 45.4 shooting percentage, which would be second among Nuggets guards from last year and an improvement in Gallinari’s 41%.

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So there is no question that Murray brings some good scoring to the Nuggets, who could use some efficient help in that department. There is a concern with Murray on defense, but that just means his fits in even more with the Nuggets.

As for his reasonable expectations, there is no reason not to think that Murray can’t compete for the rookie of the year. He also should have one of the higher points per game of all the rookies. Defensively he will struggle, but he will balance that out with the points he score. If a guess had to be made, 20-24 point per game is reasonable for the rookie.

The Nuggets second choice was Juan Hernangomez a power forward from Spain. With the surplus of picks, the Nuggets made a draft and stash selection here. Hernangomez will be playing in Europe another year before joining the Nuggets in the NBA.

Their final first round selection was another guard in Malik Beasley out of Florida State. Beasley brings more scoring to a Nuggets team that needed help there. After the draft, they have scoring potential all over their roster.