In sports, we tend to gloss over the preseason, and rightfully so. The games don’t count, coaches aren’t game planning and star players tend to treat it exactly like it is, a warmup.
Still, there’s a lot you can draw from preseason play, especially in the NBA, as starters actually play 15-25 minutes a game.
On Thursday, the Nuggets closed out their preseason schedule with 98-78 loss to the Utah Jazz, capping off a 4-3 record. They’ll begin their regular season next Wednesday in Houston against James Harden, Ty Lawson and the Houston Rockets.
But before we completely leave the preseason behind in the dust, let’s take a look back and see who have been the Denver Nuggets’ three biggest standouts from preseason:
Honorable Mention: Emmanuel Mudiay
Emmanuel Mudiay has been exactly as advertised this preseason
Obviously, Mudiay is the easy answer. He led the Nuggets in scoring, assists and … turnovers. But that’s all to be expected. In fact, Mudiay was exactly as advertised this preseason, and that’s why he’s not higher on this list.
If there is anything you should take special notice of, though, it’s Mudiay’s 37.5 percent shooting from behind the three-point arc. That probably wasn’t expected.
Honestly, if Mudiay can just be respectable from three, shooting something around 30 percent, that would be huge. Mudiay was pegged by many as a non-shooter, a Rajon Rondo-like point guard. Through Summer League and the preseason, that’s clearly not the case.
His shot isn’t broken; it’s a work in progress.
