7. Denver Nuggets: Buddy Hield
The Denver Nuggets are a team searching for some direction at the moment. They took a step in the right direction a season ago when they selected Emmanuel Mudiay to lead their rebuilding roster. Along with him, they have a few solid starters in Kenneth Faried, WIll Barton, and Danilo Gallinari. Also they have an array of young foreign bigs, who they think they might be able to mold at least one star out of.
What this team desperately needs is some shooting from the perimeter, and the reigning Wooden Award winner can provide a team with that in bunches. Buddy Hield is the perfect backcourt partner for the attack-oriented offense of Mudiay. The drive and kick potential alone here is enough to boost the Nuggets into the top half of the league offensively, a place they’ve fallen from in the post-Melo era.
Hield is a fun edition to a roster that doesn’t have too much to get excited about. He’s my early prediction to have the best single-game scoring outing by a rookie next season. I’m calling it now…he’s going to go for 40 at some point next year.
Next: Sacramento Kings