As Will Barton heals from injury, Juan Hernangomez of the Denver Nuggets continues to fill the void.
The Denver Nuggets have missed Will Barton at the wing ever since he went down with injury.
The team tried Torrey Craig in the starting rotation for a few games, but he simply did not bring the necessary offensive firepower. Enter Juan Hernangomez.
Hernangomez is a potent offensive weapon. When he gets hot, he gets very hot.
He is also a Golden State Warrior killer as he dropped over 25 points on them a couple seasons ago and had the game winning blocked shot against them this year. However, he is not without fault. Hernangomez has to be more aggressive defensively.
So far this season, he is not even averaging a steal or a block a game. On top of this, Hernangomez also is only averaging a steal percentage of 1% and block percentage of 1.7%. Not to mention, he is averaging 3.4 defensive rebounds per game.
However, he does have potential on this end of the floor. Just ask Damian Jones of the Golden State Warriors. Hernangomez has only allowed one player to score 10 points or more this season (Khris Middleton.) If he can take some more chances jumping the passing lane and communicating effectively, then his defensive stats shall take a big jump.
Plus, it would really benefit the Nuggets greatly as they try to figure out a way to stay a float without their starting small forward in Will Barton. Juan Hernangomez is already having a solid season, even with replacing the explosive Barton.
If he can get more aggressive on defense though, the team will be in very good shape.
Especially considering the fact Denver’s defense has faltered ever since the start of the year when they started with a win loss record of 9-1.