Nugget Arron Afflalo Rebuilding Offensive Resume
A year ago, the potential of Arron Afflalo came into focus. He made a jump shot at the buzzer to give the Nuggets a 121-120 win over the future NBA Champion Mavericks. The shot came before the trade, which means that the Afflalo option was taken while Carmelo Anthony was on the team. He nailed the shot and gave the Nuggets hope in a cloudy future.
When Carmelo Anthony was traded, the Nuggets acquired a lot of talent; Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Timofey Mosgov, Kosta Koufos, and Raymond Felton, who the team ultimately traded for Andre Miller. The team’s talent has meshed a number of times this season, but the lack of a closer is still haunting the Nuggets. Arron Afflalo looked poised to take over that role for the Nuggets.
The lockout created a setback for Arron Afflalo. With the Nuggets first round exit to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Afflalo spent nine months as free agent. Since he was a free agent during the lockout, his agents advised Afflalo to not play overseas and risk injury. The payoff ended up being five years, 40 million dollars, which is a lot of money for a guy mostly known for his defensive skills.
Unfortunately for the Nuggets, Afflalo, the biggest re-signing for the Nuggets behind Nene, had a slow start for Denver. The two guard missed all of training camp and despite holding down the starting spot in the line-up, he averaged just 10.2 points a game in January, with no games of 20 or more points. This is a huge concern for a team that passes the scoring lead around between many different players.
Luckily for the Nuggets, he finally seems to have found his scoring touch. In three games this past week Afflalo had 26, 23 and 20 points. It has been noted that he seems to have that drive that makes him a special player back when he’s on the floor. This energy is something the Nuggets desperately need on both ends of the court.
While his clutch play may end up being the Nuggets solution, he will remain one of their best defensive players. In a game last month against the Clippers, Afflalo was matched up against Chris Paul for much of the first half. Paul managed only 2 points in the first two frames of the game. Afflalo sat out for the much of the second half and Paul scored 23 points in the Clippers victory. It is this combination of talents that made him a 40 million dollar man for the Nuggets.
