The Nuggets will open Summer League play tonight against the Miami Heat at 8 p.m. MT (NBA TV).
Here’s what I’ll be watching for over the next 10 days.
Bol’s Showcase
Bol Bol failed to crack the Nuggets’ rotation last year and played only 160 total minutes throughout the regular season after a successful seven-game Seeding Round showcase inside the NBA bubble last August. Looking ahead to next season, it’s again tough to see him holding down a rotation spot with how deep the Nuggets’ frontcourt will be. Bol wouldn’t mind a change of scenery, and Summer League could be his chance to get one.
Bol will be at the center of the Nuggets’ game plan when they open Summer League play Sunday night, which head coach Charles Klask confirmed following the team’s practice in Denver on Friday. Bol will play the 4 and 5 for the Nuggets in Las Vegas.
“He’s going to be our Summer League version of Nikola when he’s at the 5,” Klask said. “We’re going to try and play through him a lot.”
“I think if he stays engaged and plays hard, you’ll see his skills flourish in Summer League.”
Bol’s individual talent is obvious. He can shoot it, handle like only a few seven-footers can, and is an incredibly unique talent. At Summer League, the Nuggets will try to mesh those individual skills with their team concepts.
“He’s got a unique skill-set and we’re going to try and highlight that in some different ways,” Klask said. “We told him to just embrace it and really just focus on team basketball. We know that he’s a really good individual player, and sometimes that willingness to score 1-on-1 can sometimes subtract from the team play. So he’s just kind of got to mesh those two together.”
Would it shock me if Bol plays well at Summer League, puts up quality numbers, and generates enough interest for the Nuggets to trade him in the coming months? Not at all. It’s probably the best outcome for both sides at this point. Bol needs to and wants to play. That doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen in Denver this coming season if he sticks around.
Bol is expected to play Sunday night in the Nuggets’ Summer League opener.
Expanding Zeke’s Game
Out of all the players on the Nuggets’ Summer League roster, Zeke Nnaji is the only one that I can see playing legitimate rotation minutes next season. That alone makes him the top storyline to track over the next 10 days.
With the Nuggets, Nnaji has a very defined role. He’s a catch-and-shoot big who doesn’t venture too far outside of his comfort zone on the offensive end of the floor. But in Vegas, Nnaji’s role will be expanded.
“We want to expand Zeke’s game,” Klask said. “He’s such a coachable kid. If you tell him to do A, B and C, he wants to do A, B, and C to the fullest and never wants to be wrong. He never wants to do the wrong thing. So in Summer League, we told him, ‘You have the freedom to explore your game a little more than you did in the regular season because your role has changed.'”
Nnaji has spent most of his offseason in Denver. Coaches have been impressed by the hours he’s put in on the Nuggets’ practice court. When Nnaji’s potentially playing minutes next to Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets’ regulars next season, expect him to play the same defined role that he did when the forward got occasional rotation minutes last year. At Summer League, he’ll get the opportunity to do more.
Who’s available?
Due to health and safety protocols, the Nuggets will be extremely shorthanded tonight against the Heat. Nnaji, Markus Howard and rookie Bones Hyland will not play tonight due to health and safety protocols, a source confirmed to DNVR.
Denver is expected to have eight or nine players available Sunday and signed Daniel Hamilton and Josh Gray, a source told DNVR, to their Summer League roster in order to reach the number of players needed to play tonight.
Hamilton, the younger brother of former Nugget Jordan Hamilton, is a 6-7 wing who averaged 6.6 points and 3.9 rebounds across eight games for Bursaspor in Turkey last season. Gray is a 6-1 point guard out of LSU who averaged 13 points and 5.8 assists per game for the G League’s Fort Wayne Mad Ants last year.
Other players I’ll be keeping a close eye on
Everyone can’t wait to see Bones Hyland in Vegas. The rookie is electric with the ball and the Summer League environment should play to his strengths. He’ll have the ball in his hands a ton and will be given every opportunity to be Denver’s primary initiator. Hyland will be buried on the Nuggets’ depth chart to open next season and will likely spend some quality time with Denver’s new G League affiliate. Summer League will be a chance to see just how far away he might be from contributing.
Zylan Cheatham is a 6-foot-8, 25-year-old, defensive-minded forward who seems like he could be a contender for a two-way spot next season. He averaged 10.5 points and 8.1 rebounds per game for the Iowa Wolves in the G League last year. Caleb Agada, who just played for Team Nigeria at the Olympics and is coming off a breakout year for Hapoel in Israel, is another name I’d potentially watch for a two-way. Agada averaged 22 points per game overseas last season and scored 43 against Maccabi Tel Aviv in April.
