DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell plays so hard he "sometimes scares both coaches"

LAS VEGAS — DeVaugh Akoon-Purcell caught the ball on the right side of the floor, charged downhill and crashed into a couple Milwaukee Bucks. The referee blew his whistle, and even though Akoon-Purcell earned a trip to the free throw line he still let out a manic yell after his shot didn’t drop into the basket for a potential and-one.

The intensity in Akoon-Purcell’s approach has been on display all week at Summer League. The former Illinois State Redbird, who last season played professionally in Denmark, followed up his 19-point performance Saturday with an 18-point game against the Bucks on Monday. He was Denver’s second-leading scorer as it defeated Milwaukee 90-83 to move to 3-0 in Las Vegas.

“DeVaughn sometimes scares both coaches,” Nuggets Summer League coach Jordi Fernandez joked. “He’s been really good for us. He can handle (the ball) in the second side, and defensively he’s awesome. I don’t know if you guys remember, but he made a big mistake and had a turnover. He ran back and got it back. Those effort plays — it could be a four-point swing, and you end up scoring. Those are huge.”

Akoon-Purcell sunk three three-pointers, all in the first quarter, and went 5-6 at the free throw line. He also chipped in with three rebounds, three assists and three steals — filling up the stat sheet like he did last season in the Danish Basketligaen. In 49 games with the Bakken Bears, Akoon-Purcell averaged 18.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.9 assists.

The 25-year-old said he was unsure of what kind of role he’d have on this Denver team, but so far the arrangement is working out.

“Honestly, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into,” Akoon-Purcell said. “I didn’t know if I was going to play two minutes or 20 minutes. Whatever opportunity they gave me I took advantage of. I just come in and play as hard as I can, and that’s what makes my minutes increase.”

The Morris-Cancar connection

Peanut butter and jelly. Big Boi and Andre 3000. Monte Morris and Vlatko Cancar when they get out on the fast break. That’s an unofficial list of the greatest combinations of the last century.

In the third quarter, Morris and Cancar hooked up for a pretty bucket in transition. Morris threw a perfectly lofted pass to Cancar, who caught it in stride and laid it in.

Morris and Cancar both played well once again. Morris scored 20 points, grabbed six rebounds and handed out eight assists. Cancar connected on 3-4 three-pointers and contributed 13 points.

In the fourth quarter, Morris put the game on ice by coming up with a steal and layup that pushed Denver’s lead to seven with 13 seconds remaining.

“He’s like the team captain,” Fernandez said. “He ran the show. I trusted him at the end. I knew he would make the right decision, and he did. He finished.”

Beasley sits

Malik Beasley was wearing a white jacket while his teammates went through pregame warmups. He was inactive with wrist soreness, which occurred after he took a spill in Saturday’s win over the Celtics. Beasley had an X-ray, which came back negative.

“He’s questionable for the next game,” Fernandez said. “Everything is fine. We didn’t want him to force anything if it was sore. He really wants to play. Again he’s part of the team, and he’s excited to keep challenging himself. He’s doing a great job.”

Beasley played well against the Celtics, scoring 19 points.

Jokic signs deal and flies to Vegas

Nikola Jokic’s Monday was jam-packed. To start it, he scribbled the necessary signatures on a new deal that’s worth $148 million across five years. Then Jokic addressed the media in Denver alongside Will Barton, who also finished the paperwork to re-up with the Nuggets. After that, Jokic, his brothers and his girlfriend flew to Las Vegas to watch Summer League.

He had plenty of company. Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke and president Josh Kroenke, president of basketball operations Tim Connelly and head coach Michael Malone were all in attendance.