One of the Nuggets’ top priorities at this season’s trade deadline was to acquire a capable backup point guard to lead their bench unit in place of Emmanuel Mudiay, who was stumbling through a third straight season in Denver.
Nuggets’ brass put their full support behind Mudiay after training camp when Denver waived last year’s starter Jameer Nelson. That gave the 22-year-old the reigns to the team’s second five. But Mudiay’s numbers through 42 games spoke for themselves.
The Nuggets got outscored by 131 points in the 752 minutes Mudiay played up until February’s trade deadline. Still, the Nuggets found a way to stay four games above .500 with Mudiay leading a depleted bench unit partly because Denver outscored its opponents by 252 points when he sat.
Denver’s bench improved with Devin Harris — the point guard the Nuggets went out and acquired on Feb. 8 from the Mavericks in a three-team trade that sent Mudiay to the Knicks and Doug McDermott from New York to Dallas. Harris helped the Nuggets to a 17-10 record in games he appeared in over the final two months of the regular season and finished within one game of the eighth seed.
The veteran didn’t seal up every hole in Denver’s bench unit, but with Harris, the Nuggets were at least able to stay afloat when their starters rested. The Nuggets were only outscored by 11 points in the 533 minutes Harris played this season in a Nuggets’ uniform. On a per 100 possessions basis, the Nuggets were outscored by an average of 8.2 points with Mudiay on the floor this season. With Harris, that number dropped to 1.0.
Harris averaged 8.2 points on 40.6 percent shooting from the field and 34.3 percent from three with the Nuggets. The 34.3 percent he shot from distance was significantly better than the 32.7 percent Harris averages from three for his career.
Harris also didn’t turn the ball over nearly as much as Mudiay. Harris averaged just 1.0 turnovers per game with the Nuggets compared to Mudiay’s 1.7 per game. The 34-year-old never turned the ball over more than three times in a game in a Nuggets’ uniform while Mudiay was prone to four or five-turnover nights, which hamstrung Denver’s attack.
He paired nicely with Will Barton and at times Jamal Murray to add some needed versatility to Denver’s backcourt. The Nuggets outscored their opponents by 10 points in the 346 minutes that Harris and Barton shared the floor and 30 points in the 184 minutes that Harris and Murray played together.
Harris is an unrestricted free agent this summer and could be on a one-way ticket back to Dallas, where his family still lives and where the 14-year pro spent 10 professional seasons, to finish out his career. Still, Harris is keen on playing for a playoff-caliber team, and Denver’s impending playoff run was one of the reasons why the 6-foot-4 guard welcomed a midseason trade to the Nuggets.
