Denver Nuggets: Why did R.J. Hampton fall to No. 24, and how does he fit with the team?

With the NBA draft complete let’s look at why R.J. Hampton fell out of the NBA lottery, and how he fits with the Denver Nuggets?

Denver Nuggets draft pick R.J. Hampton close to a year ago said on ESPN’s The Jump that he would forgo the NCAA to join the NBL’s New Zealand Breakers.

This was met was a shock to many, with Hampton becoming somewhat of a trailblazer for LaMelo Ball, who signed with the Illawarra Hawks a couple of months after Hampton’s announcement.

Hampton was projected to be selected as high as 14th overall to the Boston Celtics by The Ringer, and at lowest 19th to at the time the Brooklyn Nets according to multiple outlets.  

The reason why Hampton fell is a mystery, some American pundits lampooned Hampton’s choice to not play in college and spoke poorly of the NBL’s level of talent (a top 5-to-7 league in the world), possibly affecting his stock or discouraging NBA teams to take him. But, that’s a whole other discussion.

Another reason may be that players like Isaiah Stewart (No. 16) and Zeke Nnaji (No. 22) went higher than projected. For example, the Ringer’s mock draft had Steward at 30th overall and Nnaji at 31st

So, the Denver Nuggets (after multiple trades) were able to select the explosive 6’6” globetrotting guard in R.J. Hampton with the 24th overall pick in the NBA draft.

The Nuggets got lucky with having Hampton slide this far, it was a no-brainer pick.  To see how Hampton fits you should know his overall strengths and weaknesses – which I went into in-depth in a draft profile of Hampton.

The summary is that Hampton is without question the most athletic player in this draft class, and has the potential to be an elite two-way combo guard. Currently, he is a solid ball-handler and playmaker with elite speed but a shaky jump shot, and showing some growing pains on defense during the NBL season.

Hampton will immediately slide into the backup shooting guard role next to Monte Morris, filling those P.J. Dozier minutes, or the role that Malik Beasley was in prior to being traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Hampton brings three key things to the Nuggets, those being; athleticism, shot creation, and scoring.

R.J. Hampton’s athleticism

As mentioned, Hampton is an athletic freak, something which All-Star and new teammate Nikola Jokic is not. The Nuggets had the second slowest pace in the league per NBA.com/stats.

Hampton will be able to speed the Nuggets offense up — mostly from the bench. But, with injuries or staggered minutes with the starters, Hampton could influence head coach Michael Malone’s offense with his athleticism in a very real way.

Jokic’s outlet passes to Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr. and R.J. Hampton – all sprinting down the court, while one or two gets floats to the corner would be a welcome addition to Malone’s system.

R.J. Hampton’s shot creation

Hampton averaged 2.4 assists per game (only playing 20.6 minutes per game in a 40-minute FIBA league) which may seem low, but due to his small sample size in games played (15) and a low minute’s average, it made his stats look a bit worse than they are.

When in reality, Hampton signed with the New Zealand Breakers, who have won four championships this decade and played for a EuroLeague championship coach Dan Shamir.

Looking at Hampton’s per-36 minute stats, his assist average of 4.2 assists is a more accurate depiction of what Hampton could do if let loose on an NBA bench.

Next to Morris, Hampton would be sharing the ball off the bench, but Hampton knows how to play off the ball or when playing with the starting group from his Breakers experience. Hampton said in a recent interview on NBL Overtime.

"“Playing with those guys I played with on my team… Being able to learn from Scotty Hopson, Corey Webster, Sek Henry, that’s only going to help me.”"

In the draft profile, I emphasized how good of a playmaker he is. The majority of his dimes come from the pick and roll or from his drive and kicks.

R.J. Hampton’s scoring

Hampton averaged 8.8 points per game in the NBL, the per 36 stats are less useful here as Hampton was scoring against in their prime athletes, who all want to make the NBA.

So, if you hear draft “gurus” saying Hampton can’t score, look at the league he played against, all NCAA prospects play against guys a similar age — it’s apples to oranges.

What is concerning is the shooting (29.5 percent from three on 2.9 attempts) and the efficiency. Hampton sat in the bottom 25 for both effective field goal percentage and true shooting percentage in the 2019-20 NBL season per RealGM. 

Hampton is at his best scoring in the pick and roll and driving with speed and ferocity towards the basket. The Nuggets bench averaged 37.1 points per game this regular season, ranking 18th overall.

Adding Hampton to the bench alongside Morris will be an excellent addition to the team, hopefully, in the future, Hampton can become the two-way guard that helps Denver in the playoffs.

In the meantime, Gary Haris acts as a paperweight, holding that position down while the Nuggets see if Hampton can develop into what we could be.