No. 15 overall pick Juancho Hernangomez has signed his rookie-scale deal, according to Eric Pincus. The Nuggets have now signed all three of their first-round picks.
The Denver Nuggets have inked Juancho Hernangomez to a standard rookie-scale deal ($9.6 mil total) @BBallInsiders
— Eric Pincus (@EricPincus) July 29, 2016
Gigantes del Basket, and Sportando were the first to report the deal was done last week.
Los Nuggets deciden quedarse con Juancho. Décimo español en la NBA 2016-17 https://t.co/l5zhRlZisN pic.twitter.com/Tb1XvaQ0ZM
— Gigantes del Basket (@GIGANTESbasket) July 22, 2016
Hernangomez, the No. 15 overall pick in June’s draft, is coming off an impressive showing at Summer League where he averaged 10.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, and shot 54.5 percent from the field in five games. He’s displayed an innate basketball IQ and a great feel for the game, but it’s not known how much playing time he’ll receive in Denver, at least initially.
Without a significant trade, the Nuggets will come to training camp with a fairly established rotation.
Another year in Spain would certainly give Hernangomez more playing time, but bringing him to Denver will get him ingratiated into the Nuggets culture and will keep him around the young core of this team from a young age. He’ll also get a chance to work on his body with an NBA-level strength program and trainers, access he might not have gotten overseas.
BSN Denver spoke to Hernangomez at Summer League mini-camp, where he mentioned that Denver’s roster, stocked full of players from international backgrounds, feels like ‘familia.’
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There is going to be some serious competition to become a starter or heavy min rotation player this year for the Nuggets. It does not matter what contract you have. Each player must earn their spot by either being an efficient scorer or a tenacious defender (or both, but we don’t have that player yet). The only exceptions will be for Mudiay if his shooting is between 38-42% and for Faried’s at best average defense excluding the 4th quarter. The backcourt trio of Mudiay, Harris and Murray is going to be very exciting because they all are athletic combo guards who can mesh well together in any 1-2 combination. I foresee Murray not being afraid to be a clutch scorer and leader off the bench this year. At small forward, volume shooting at 42% whether it is from Gallinari or Chandler will not be accepted, therefore the most efficient two way player will get the most minutes there. At power forward, Faried will get the initial start because of his hustle, rebounding and 55%FG’s, but I think Malone will give a heavy look to how well Gallinari and Chandler produce together at the 3/4 with Jokic for our own version of the Death Lineup. At center, Jokic will fend off a motivated Nurkic to start because he is really good and his passing helps others be better. Nurkic will dominate on the 2nd team and Juancho will play 18-20 min/game. Nuggets easily win 44 games this year.