Denver Nuggets: Summer League Crucial for Shooting Guards

With the loss of Andre Iguodala and Las Vegas Summer League beginning this weekend, the Denver Nuggets will be looking closer than ever at their young guards.

Along with failing to re-sign their starting shooting guard, the Nuggets also parted ways with coach George Karl, lost top-notch general manager Masai Ujiri to the Toronto Raptors and now find themselves in what seems to be a rebuilding movement that was forced upon them.

That’s where youth comes in.

The summer league has altered its format into a tournament, but coaches often view this time of year as a chance for their young players to exercise their areas needing improvement against other new talent. For the Nuggets, a few players have a case to make the next step in proving they can fill the team’s void.

Third-year swingman Jordan Hamilton, sophomore Evan Fournier and rookie Erick Green now have an open opportunity in front of them to show the team and new head coach Brian Shaw that they’re a potential building block for the future of the franchise. All three are on the Las Vegas Summer League roster and can begin showing their skills on Saturday against the Milwaukee Bucks.

Can Jordan Hamilton compete for a rotation spot?(NBA.com photo)

Perhaps Hamilton will get a better shot at the rotation under Shaw, but it doesn’t change that his future with the Nuggets seems to be most at risk. After two years with no meaningful and consistent minutes, he needs to prove he’s worth keeping around.

Hamilton proved to be the leader of last year’s summer league team, averaging 19.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists in five games. With Vegas in the near future, he needs to concentrate on delivering a star performance as he did last year and carry it into training camp.

Evan Fournier, though, can steal that spotlight.

Evan Fournier found himself in the starting lineup come playoff time. (NBA.com photo)

The 20-year-old French guard averaged 5.3 points per game in his rookie year, but has plenty of room to grow. Opposite of Hamilton, Fournier saw a slight increase in minutes from the regular season to playoffs this year, as well as landing the starting spot in the games he did play against the Golden State Warriors.

Though in limited minutes, Fournier proved to be an efficient scorer last season. As far as the areas of his game where he can most improve, 3-point shooting and rebounding are what can swing the coaching staff’s favor if they see that in summer league.

Erick Green is definitely a tweener in the respect that he knows how to score but, at 6-foot-3, is a little short for the shooting guard position. That makes the case for 2-guard minutes tougher for him.

Leading the NCAA with 25 points per game due to his deadly shooting touch and speed, Denver obviously couldn’t pass up on his potential, which led to the team acquiring his rights on draft night from Utah in exchange for Rudy Gobert.

Rather thin at 185 pounds, questions arise on how he can handle stronger NBA guards and finishing in the paint, but entering his first year with a team that’s looking for contribution anywhere, it’s too early to count him out of both the rotation this year, as well as his potential to contribute down the road. Summer League can prove to be a big first impression for him.