J.R. Smith’s improvement last season made him the most coveted free agent — albeit restricted — on the Nuggets’ roster. His continued work this summer has resulted in a new three-year contract with the team, which is happy to have Smith back.
“He should have been a senior at North Carolina this year,” Nuggets vice president of basketball operations Mark Warkentien said. “I think everyone would acknowledge he would have been a deep, deep, deep lottery pick. And to know we’re going to have him for the next three years is something … we’re excited about.”
Smith’s summer has done nothing but elevate his value in the organization’s eyes. The high-flying 6-foot-5 guard has spent nearly all of this summer in a gym.
He practiced every morning with the Nuggets’ summer league team in Las Vegas in July. He attended assistant coach Tim Grgurich’s intensive player camp at the beginning of August. And in the last couple of weeks, as Smith’s representation and the Nuggets worked out the details on the contract, Smith was in the gym in Denver working on his game.
“You couldn’t have spent more time working on his game than he did this summer,” Warkentien said. “His work and demonstrated ability to work with our coaching staff to improve was a compelling piece for us, and a more than exciting piece for us. This guy has spent his summer in the gym.”
Smith, 22, had a breakthrough season in 2007-08 for the Nuggets, averaging 12.6 points while shooting 39.6 percent from 3-point range. The percentage ranks as the highest in team history with a minimum of 100 attempts.
“You take J.R. 18 months ago, and he was almost purely a catch-and-shoot player,” Warkentien said. “The efforts of our coaching staff plus J.R.’s very hard work has resulted in a guy that is powerful driving the ball. He’s not only a catch player, he’s a dribble player now. The credit absolutely goes to J.R.’s hard work combined with a great teaching effort by our coaching staff, particularly Jamahl Mosley and John Welch.”
The Nuggets now have the minimum required 13 players on the roster. Only draft pick Sonny Weems remains unsigned.
Chris Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com
