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DENVER — With the news that Gary Harris will reportedly miss the next four-to-six weeks with a partially torn right groin, the Denver Nuggets likely find themselves without their starting two-guard to begin the regular season.
Harris, 22, was an ironman for first-year coach Michael Malone and the Nuggets last year. The 6-foot-4 guard started all 76 of the games he appeared in and averaged 32.1 minutes per game last season, the second highest on the roster behind just Danilo Gallinari.
With the goal of getting better from behind the arc this offseason, the Nuggets drafted two plus shooters with two of their three first-round picks in Jamal Murray and Malik Beasley. Both will get a chance to shine with Harris out for an extended amount of time.
“If there is a silver lining to the fact that Gary’s out for maybe four weeks, it gives you more minutes and a greater chance to learn and grow on the fly for those two young kids, Malik and Jamal,” Malone said at practice Thursday. “But we believe in all of our young guys.”
Murray, Beasley and Will Barton will soak up Harris’s vacant minutes at the two-guard spot this weekend in Los Angeles where the Nuggets have preseason games Friday and Sunday, both agains the Lakers. Malone put a 3-4 week timetable on Harris’s return himself and has yet to rule him out for the regular season opener Oct. 26 in New Orleans.
“That’s the value of having such great depth,” Malone said. “A great opportunity for some of our young guys to play meaningful minutes early in the season if that’s the case.”
Barton, who played Denver’s sixth-man role last season, will likely get the first shot at the shooting guard spot Friday night. Barton averaged a career high 14.4 points per game last season and upped his career 3-point percentage by more than four points during his first full year in Denver.
Next up, is Murray, a combo guard and the No. 7 overall pick in this summer’s draft who will play at the one and two this season.
“Jamal was going to get an extended look regardless,” Malone said. “He’s a guy that we’re going to play [at the] one, and two…Jamal was a guy we drafted seven, we had him third on our board, he was going to play if Gary got hurt or didn’t get hurt.”
Lastly is Beasley, the sweet-shooting 19th overall pick who might be one of only a couple players on the Nuggets who can rival Murray in a 3-point shooting contest. Beasley wasn’t expected to contribute much this season, but like last year when injuries forced Nikola Jokic into the lineup at the beginning of the season, everyone on the roster has to be ready to contribute at a moment’s notice.
“I’m very confident in myself,” Beasley said in regards to how he’ll deal with an increase in minutes this weekend in Los Angeles. “I put in a lot of hard work out of rehab from the summer and I believe I have a chance to do what I have to do.”
The Nuggets will have a different starting five Friday against the Lakers with Harris out and likely a different starting frontcourt as well. Malone wants to experiment this preseason with a multitude of lineups both big and small to try and extract what he can out of a versatile Denver roster.
“There’s plenty of guys that can fill that spot,” Malone said. “Obviously Gary is a starter for us and had a great season, but until he’s able to get back we have different options we can look at and we’ll do so in the coming games.”
