By Christopher Dempsey, Nuggets Insider
LAS VEGAS – Every long journey starts with a single step, and in the Las Vegas Summer League, where those steps can decide players’ career paths for at least the next calendar year, Friday kicks off a big two weeks of action.
The Nuggets get started on their summer league play Friday night against Houston (8 p.m., NBA TV). It is the debut of first-round draft pick Tyler Lydon, and the debut (of sorts) of shooting guard Malik Beasley, who did not play in last year’s summer league but did play with the Nuggets during the regular season.
Lydon said he’s looking most forward to “just playing.”
“Obviously, it’s something you work for going through this whole week just getting ready,” Lydon said. “So I’m excited to play.”
Lydon’s sharp-shooting during practices quickly got the attention of Nuggets summer league coach, Micah Nori. Meanwhile, Beasley’s athleticism continues to impress and Juancho Hernangomez is expected to be good in all of the areas he showed so much promise in with the Nuggets during the 2016-17 regular season. Fans will also get another look at previous draft picks, guard Nikola Radicevic and forward Petr Cornelie.
For every player on the team, though, playing well is a must. In that light, Nori says he’ll not over-coach things and bog the team down.
“The last thing I want to do is make play call after play call,” Nori said. “It’s not about me. It’s about letting these guys grow, letting 29 other teams see them for those; and then for our guys just to perform and have that ability to take over a team.”
Christopher Dempsey: christopher.dempsey@altitude.tv or @chrisadempsey on Twitter