Southern Hospitality: Emmanuel Mudiay breaks out in Atlanta

From a 68-game starter during his rookie year, to beginning his sophomore season in the starting lineup only to be phased out of Denver’s rotation entirely, to a potentially make-or-break third year where he entered the regular season as the Nuggets’ backup point guard, Emmanuel Mudiay has endured a rocky road throughout his short but eventful NBA career.

“At the end of the season, we met 1-on-1,” Nuggets’ coach Michael Malone said this summer. “I told him ‘it’s the biggest summer of his life. You need to attack this summer.’ I challenged him to work harder, at a faster pace and to be in Denver more, with our coaching staff more. He’s been in Denver. I think Emmanuel’s had a terrific summer. As far as what he needs to work on, as a point guard, he has to work on pace. He can work on his jump shot. Become a more efficient shooter.”

Throughout Nuggets’ training camp and preseason, Denver’s coaching staff and front office couldn’t stop raving about Mudiay, but over their first four games, his results were mixed. Mudiay showed off an improved jumper, one Malone says he made mechanical tweaks to over the summer and shot 4-10 from beyond the arc, but the turnovers were still coming in bunches.

Mudiay had shown flashes during those four games — the same ones that have been visible at times during his first two years in Denver — but Friday night in Atlanta Mudiay finally put together the all-around performance that he and the Nuggets had been waiting for.

Mudiay tallied 16 points on 5-11 shooting against the Hawks to go with four rebounds and four assists off the bench and finished tied for a team-high +9 in 32:24 of playing time. The 21-year-old still made mistakes with the ball in his hands but recorded zero turnovers and put the Nuggets’ offense in positions to succeed while running the point. Mudiay finished the night with a 113 Offensive Rating, the second-highest on Denver’s roster to Mason Plumlee.

With starter Jamal Murray mired in a 17-59 (28.8 percent) shooting slump to start the year, Mudiay closed out the Hawks alongside the rest of Denver’s starters and Will Barton. Murray hasn’t been able to find his stroke from distance either and is just 2-21 from three-point range .

Against the Hawks, Mudiay came out of halftime, got in transition and sent an accurate hit-ahead pass to a streaking Plumlee.

Later in the quarter he got into the paint, took what the defense gave him and found Barton spotting up from beyond the three-point line.

In the fourth, he found an open Jokic underneath the hoop for a layup.

Then, to close the game, Mudiay executed Denver’s offense, ran off a Jokic screen and found the big man for an almost automatic mid-range jumper.

On offense, Mudiay played within himself — something the 6-foot-5 point guard needed to do in order to have a successful third season. In the second quarter, Mudiay took the ball strong to the hoop and finished off a Malik Beasley pass.

Then, he recognized his mismatch on reserve point guard Isaiah Taylor who stands at 6-foot-3 and took the smaller guard into the post.

Later in the third, he took Taylor for another ride, this time under the rim a la Steve Nash and shot a quick turnaround jumper from the right block.

Mudiay also found his stroke from mid-range. He looked confident knocking down this 18-footer.

To start the fourth, Mudiay put Dewayne Dedmon on skates with a crafty hesitation move and got to the bucket untouched.