When Tim Connelly and the Denver Nuggets selected Juancho Hernangomez with the 15th pick in this year’s NBA draft, the Nuggets were likely looking at him as a classic draft-and-stash candidate; Juancho seems to have a different plan.
Hernangomez is proving that he’s NBA ready right now.
In recent weeks, the Denver Nuggets franchise has received a lot of love and attention from around the NBA world, starting with a tweet from Dwyane Wade. Despite choosing Chicago over Denver, Wade’s tweet seemed to show that his visit with the Nuggets wasn’t just leverage for a better contract; he was sincerely impressed with the Denver Nuggets, from their roster, to their coaching staff, to general manager and on up to ownership.
With the Nuggets slowly but surely putting themselves back on the NBA map, this young core could be ready to shock hoop heads sooner than later.
Jamal Murray has already started to live up to the hype. Through Summer League, he has shown the ability to score, but we all knew he possessed that. What I’ve seen from Murray over the last two games is an effort and focus on the defensive side of the floor. When that part of his game becomes consistent, he will force Malone to find minutes for him.
But back to Juancho. The 20 year old from Madrid, Spain has been playing professional basketball since 2012, when he singed his first contract with CB Estudiantes. Save the “Well, it’s a different game” takes. I understand that, but it still means something. When you’re a professional, at whatever level, you learn how to handle yourself as a professional and treat basketball like a job, not just a game.
He’s been called a “stretch four,” a “European big,” but call him anything you want, because I call him the best value pick in the NBA Draft. He has shown an ability to score the ball, either with his jumper of by putting the ball on the floor and attacking the basket. He can, and will, get buckets in the NBA. But what has surprised me is his ability to play under the basket and fight for rebounds amongst the traditional bigs.
We know the NBA is changing, so why not let this young team grow together in today’s NBA?
I want to see both Jamal Murray and Juancho Hernangomez on the 15-man roster come October. Sure, it may come at the cost of a player like Axel Toupane, JaKarr Sampson or even Joffrey Lauvergne, but that’s a risk I would be willing to take if I were Tim Connelly and head coach Michael Malone.
Juancho has earned his way onto the this Nuggets roster, but we’ll have to wait and see if Connelly feels the same way.
