Denver Nuggets: 5 takeaways from 2017-18 NBA season

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - APRIL 11: Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray (27) walks off the court after the overtime loss of their winner-take-all regular-season finale vs the Minnesota Timberwolves 112 -106 at the Target Center in downtown Minneapolis. April 11, 2018 Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Joe Amon/The Denver Post via Getty Images) /

3 of 6

Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images /

4. Jamal Murray at point guard looks good, so far

Year 2 was a big learning curve for Jamal Murray as he moved from shooting guard to the point guard position in 2017-18. Murray won out the starting job over Emanuel Mudiay by the end of last season and Mudiay was inevitably traded to the New York Knicks before season’s end. For Denver, it was a bittersweet transition.

As a team, they finished sixth in the NBA in points per game (110.0), fifth in assists per game (25.1) and sixth in rebounds per game (44.5). To his credit, Murray finished 16.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.0 steals per game in 81 appearances. Missing one game all season speaks volumes about his durability at the young age of 20.

Murray is learning to play with his teammates, which is a good thing considering he has both Nikola Jokic and Paul Millsap on the floor. Jokic averaged a team-high 6.1 assists per game, something Murray benefited from a lot this year despite moving to floor general.

Murray shot a career-high 45.1 percent from the field and 37.8 percent from the 3-point arc this season.Â With a full offseason to work out the kinks, it will be interesting to see how Murray fares next season as a distributor.

Home/Denver Nuggets