The Nuggets began a five-day minicamp Sunday night, a prelude to their Las Vegas summer league, which begins Friday.
“It was great,” said Nuggets assistant Micah Nori, who will coach the team. “The one thing that they can control is their energy and their effort. And it was great. There’s going to be mistakes, especially when you try to confine so much information into a short period of time. Guys struggle with that a little bit, because we’re trying to throw so much at them. But as long as they make aggressive mistakes and keep doing things at a high level, we can live with that.”
It was the first practice for the Nuggets’ top pick, Jamal Murray.
“It went good,” Murray said. “I’m just trying to get a feel for the team, how they play. Just trying to adapt to a new system.”
Those were two of a few notable things.
– Starting point guard Emmanuel Mudiay is on the team, as is starting shooting guard Gary Harris. The duo is not expected to play in all of the summer league games, and will probably be capped at about three contests.
“I’m here because they want me to get the young guys, talk to them because they want to build that future,” Mudiay said. “They just want me to be around the guys. … Coaches were telling me you don’t have to be out there the whole time, but I’m just choosing to be out there. I’m a competitive player, so I like to be competitive.”
– Harris and JaKarr Sampson were not with the team on the first day of practice but are expected to join the team soon.
– Rookie Malik Beasley, the Nuggets’ No. 19 overall pick in the draft, is not expected to play in the summer league, Nori said, as he and the team continue to be cautious as he recovers from a stress fracture. Beasley did do some shooting afterward.
“Itap busting him up inside, because I know he wants to be out there,” Nori said.
– The Nuggets have seven practices before departing for Las Vegas. Two of the days will feature two-a-day sessions.
Nori said the Nuggets will mix and match lineups when they begin play in Las Vegas. That means he’ll put Mudiay and Murray out there together, and maybe even both in a lineup with Harris at small forward.
“You’ll see some different types of lineups,” Nori said. “At the end of the day, the most important thing is to build guys and get guys going in the right direction for the real camp in October.”
