After completing five days of mini-camp in preparation, the Denver Nuggets will play in their opening Las Vegas Summer League matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves at 6:30 pm MST at Thomas and Mack Center.
The Nuggets’ roster will feature a mixture of returning players, newly drafted rookies, and those looking to secure a training camp invite.
Emmanuel Mudiay, Gary Harris, and JaKarr Sampson will be returning to join rookies Jamal Murray, Malik Beasley, Juancho Hernangomez, Petr Cornelie and the rest of the squad this summer. Assistant Coach Micah Nori will be leading this year’s Summer League team.
Over the last week, the Nuggets worked hard at conditioning, going over offensive sets and defensive rotations, and building chemistry. While it is difficult to squeeze so much into such a small period of time, the goal of Summer League is ultimately to allow young and returning players alike to get some reps in against good competition.
Beyond that, players such as Jimmer Fredette and Antonio Barton are looking to prove enough in Summer League to get another look going into training camp.
After five grueling days of practice, Fredette is ready to get some game action.
“I’m glad it’s over with,” Fredette said yesterday at the end of the session. “I’m ready to go play some games.”
The Las Vegas Summer League consists of a preliminary round and a single-elimination tournament. Teams are seeded after the preliminary round for the tournament.
Last year, the Denver Nuggets won all three of their games in the preliminary round to secure a first round bye. They faced the Atlanta Hawks in the second round and lost a hard fought game, 73-82.